Nothing like it had ever happened before — these wildfires began far earlier and spread far faster than usual, and they have burned far more boreal forest than any fire in Canada’s modern history.
As of this writing, 5,881 wildfires have consumed 15.3 million hectares, about 59,000 square miles, dwarfing the 10-year average of 2.6 million hectares per summer.
With the melting Arctic to their north and the immensity of their northern wilderness, Canadians are not strangers to climate anxiety.
“Temperatures are rising at the rate we thought they would, but the effects are more severe, more frequent, more critical.
China had its heaviest rains in 140 years; record wildfires devastated Greek islands, and the list goes on.
Persons:
it’s, ”, Michael Flannigan
Organizations:
New, Globe, Mail, Thompson Rivers University, World Meteorological Organization
Locations:
infernos, New York, Canada, Kamloops , British Columbia, Maui, Hawaii, Lahaina, New England, Manatee Bay, South Florida, China