EPIC ALBERTA CANADA WILDFIRE
Satellite sees Smoke from Canadian Fires over U.S.
Experts say climate change is contributing to the wildfires raging across Canada, and the increasing frequency of such fires may overwhelm one of Earth's most important ecosystems, the boreal forest.
In just over a week, an out of control blaze has charred more than 2,290 square kilometers (884 square miles) of land and forced the evacuation of 100,000 people from Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada.
Dominated by conifers like pine and spruce, the boreal forest sweeps across Canada, Russia, Alaska and Scandinavia making up about 30 percent of the world's forest cover, and absorbing a big chunk of carbon from the atmosphere.
As crucial as the boreal forest is at reducing the impact of human-driven fossil fuel emissions, it is also increasingly fragile, and expected to become hotter, drier, and more prone to fires in the future.
"Western Canada, including in particular the region in Alberta containing Fort McMurray, has warmed quite a bit more than the global average," said scientist Michael Mann, author of "Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change."
With the Arctic region warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, climate model projections place central and western Canada in the "bullseye of enhanced warming," he told AFP.
On the heels of the two hottest years in modern history, this warming has meant record low Arctic sea ice this spring.
"There is almost certainly a connection between the exceedingly warm Arctic, especially so this past winter, and the early fire season in high-latitude land areas, which includes much of Canada," said Jennifer Francis, research professor at Rutgers University.
"When the sea ice is diminished in winter, the contrast in temperature between the open water and cold air means that much more heat and moisture than normal will be transferred from the ocean to the atmosphere. This will warm the atmosphere, and help melt the snow cover."
Not only was there less snow than usual, but it melted early this year, added David Martell, professor in the faculty of forestry at the University of Toronto.
"The early snow melt primed the system for a particularly challenging spring fire season in Alberta because there is a short but very critical period between the time the snow melts and there is dry dead grass, leaves and needles left from the previous year that constitutes a very flammable fuel mix until green-up, the new lush moist annual vegetation emerges," he said.
Please continue this article here: http://www.globalpost.com/article/6769010/2016/05/12/canada-wildfires-bullseye-warming-planet-trends
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