wolverine Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 So we watch the news each morning, but not very closely, as we wake up and get the kids ready. There has been this thick strange haze that I just thought was from the high humidity, but apparently Canada is on fire and our local news sucks (or I am just really sleepy in the morning and miss shit). I feel like it is sad that the only reason many people know Canada is burning is because it has burned so much that the smoke is blotting out our sun (in Minnesota at least). Just wondering, how bad are the fires? Are the expected to be contained? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 There is a bad drought in the western provinces. Your haze is coming from Saskatchewan, where more than 100 fires are burning, and the fear is it will double to 200 over the next two weeks. View from an airplane of the fires: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/aerial-view-of-forest-fires-burning-in-northern-saskatchewan-1.3138015 The smoke is so bad that in areas the water bombers can't go up. The drought and fire situation is just as bad in British Columbia, where large fires are burning in the interior. The city of Vancouver has gone onto heavy water restrictions. People were allowed to water their lawn 3 times a week, and that's been reduced to once a week. For golf courses as well. Vancouver is a city where many Canadians dream of living, and often, once they move there, they find they have to move out because it rains so much they get depressed. There was less snow in the winter, meaning less run off, and the water reservoirs were at August levels at the end of June. ETA: I forgot to say, the forests out west have been devastated by the mountain pine beetle. They infest the trees and suck them dry and then move on, leaving huge swaths of dead trees behind, fuel for fires. Part of climate change - the beetles were killed by temperatures below -40 C ( = -40 F) and it hasn't been getting that cold in many areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kairparavel Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 NASA images/Satellite images http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=86147 http://io9.com/smoke-from-canadian-wildfires-is-pouring-into-the-us-li-1715133672 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2015/06/29/smoke-from-hundreds-of-wildfires-in-canada-streams-south-across-central-united-states/#.VZfltflVikp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThinkerX Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 ETA: I forgot to say, the forests out west have been devastated by the mountain pine beetle. They infest the trees and suck them dry and then move on, leaving huge swaths of dead trees behind, fuel for fires. Part of climate change - the beetles were killed by temperatures below -40 C ( = -40 F) and it hasn't been getting that cold in many areas. Sounds like a close relative of the 'spruce bark beetle' which decimated the forests around here. Up until about 30 years ago, they were unknown. Twenty years ago, local governments advocated eradicating the beetles via intense selective logging. Environmental types said 'No! This is part of the natural cycle.' Beetles continued to spread, killing huge swaths of forest. By the environmentalists decided logging was the only real option, they (and most everybody else in the area) was living in a giant tinderbox. Direct result: huge fire last year where I deliver the mail. Scorched dirt within ten feet of the blacktop, still smoking in some places and actively on fire in others. 100,000+ acres up in smoke, mostly remote wilderness. This year we had more fires, some right next to prime fishing holes, and others in heavily populated areas. Gal at work dang near lost her house, all her neighbors did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocksniffer Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 sad about the fires and the smoke... NASA images/Satellite images http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=86147 http://io9.com/smoke-from-canadian-wildfires-is-pouring-into-the-us-li-1715133672 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2015/06/29/smoke-from-hundreds-of-wildfires-in-canada-streams-south-across-central-united-states/#.VZfltflVikpbut have to say the comments under this article were really funny... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixodes Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Those pine beetles are absolutely devastating. Mile after mile of dead trees. I can't imagine how much smoke needs to be produced to make Brainerd, Minnesota hazy for the past 48 hours. At least the air doesn't stink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angalin Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 We're not far downwind here and today the smoke was bad enough that it felt challenging to take a deep breath (and I'm not asthmatic). Heavy air, between the haze and the humidity. I hope that the last hour's downpour will clear the air and bring the heat down a little, but what we've had the last days is nothing like as bad as in Saskatchewan. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Lots of pictures of weird skies affected by smoke. http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/smoky-skies-from-wildfires-snapped-by-residents-in-vancouver-1.3138949 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas! Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Not a cloud in the sky, and yet everything is grey. It's a bit unsettling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueMetis Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 One of these fires is near Sechelt, which is 23 kilometres away. About as close as I've ever been to a wildfire and about as close as I ever want to be too one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted July 6, 2015 Share Posted July 6, 2015 Things are nasty in BC: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/07/05/haze-from-bc-fires-make_n_7731700.html?&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli Fury Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 It's hazy and gross all the way to Minneapolis today, about 4 hours south of Ixodes in Brainerd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolverine Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 We have cleared up the last couple days in central MN. Hope you guys (Canada) get some better conditions to get everything under control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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