Climate change ‘is the scene for more extreme fire behavior,’ says researcher

Grand Falls-Windsor Fire Chief Vince Mackenzie says he has seen the world change in his 42-year career.

The Mackenzie community is approximately 16 kilometers north of the nearest out-of-control Wildfire in Martin Lake, which burned on 2,160 hectares from Thursday morning.

“The fire season starts earlier, lasts longer and much more intense. It has become a real problem for the past four or five years,” Mackenzie told CBC Radies The signal.

“Unfortunately it goes on.”

The fire brigade commander said that more and more warm and dry conditions are also increasing fire risk, and the province’s firefighters see that risk are growing every year.

“Climate change is very real in the fire brigade, and the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, in which I have been involved over the years, we have informed governments that climate change is real.”

Warmer weather, worse burns

Mackenzie said that burning is starting to be synonymous with the summer in Canada.

That is an idea that Kaitlyn Trudeau is investigating with Climate Central.

The data from the organization from its climate shift index indicate that higher average temperatures are a direct consequence of climate change.

Climate Central is intended to find the connection between weather events and man -caused climate change, a process that is generally known as climate characteristics.

The research group developed his index with the help of weather models and patterns to compare “two different worlds”, said Trudeau.

One world is the one in which we now live, she said, and the other is one without greenhouse gases. From there, scientists and researchers calculated the chance of every temperature at every location.

According to the climate shift index, climate change in most of Newfoundland was at least five times more likely.

“We try to make a tool that helps people just understand the role we play in the changes we see for ourselves,” said Trudeau. “The risks we see, they are much more likely in a world with added greenhouse gases than in a world without.”

The researcher said the index also helps people to better understand why forest fires seem to be so much worse this year.

Newfoundland and Labrador have on average fewer than 100 forest fires per season in the last five years, but this year there have been 216 so far, according to the Natural Brand Dashboard of the province.

“Climate change does not start burning, but what it does is that it really worsens the circumstances. It really is the stage for more extreme fire behavior with which these fires can simply burn out,” Trudeau said.

Be prepared

Mackenzie said there are actions that people can take at home to prevent fires.

“The audience must become more aware of this,” he said.

Mackenzie ordered people to keep the Ineleestroughs clear from their houses. He said that leaf waste and other naturally debris can become very flammable, so the maintenance of the lawn is also important.

However, Mackenzie said that the circumstances of this summer forest fires are not normal.

“At the end of the day it will accept it again to stop these events, and a good drowning of rain,” he said.