Inside Climate News: Supercharged by Climate Change, Western Megafires Explode Simultaneously

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/30072024/todays-climate-west-megafires-heat/

Supercharged by Climate Change, Western Megafires Explode Simultaneously
Heat waves and “flash droughts” fuel intense fires in California, Oregon and Canada.

By Kiley Price
July 30, 2024

In western North America, wildfire season is in full swing—and well on its way toward setting records. Over the past two weeks, infernos have been tearing through parts of California, Oregon and Canada, leaving scorched trails in their wake.

Though these regions are no strangers to fire, experts say the pace at which some of the blazes have intensified is shocking. As thousands flee under evacuation orders, firefighters are flooding in to help, but they’re struggling to contain the fires amidst a unique climate-fueled cocktail of conditions.

Big Fires Everywhere: Across the western U.S. and Canada, a series of heat waves, droughts and strong winds boosting the growth of fires this season. The Park Fire in Northern California, ignited last week by an arsonist, is one example.

Extreme heat during June and July dried out vegetation in the area, providing fuel for the fire to rapidly expand. As of Friday, the blaze had burned roughly 178,000 acres. Just a few days later, the fire has engulfed more than 380,000 acres, covering an area nearly double the size of New York City. The Park Fire is already the fifth-largest wildfire in California’s history and could keep raging for weeks or even months, experts say.

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[calimary]

1. Terrifying!

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Oh! Isn't this normal?

https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/usfs/map/#d:24hrs;@-100.0,40.0,4.0z

[2naSalit]

3. The Canada part...

Is relatively new but western forests have been burning down for decades, though, with far more intensity now.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. A number of the Canadian fires "wintered over"

The (so-called) “zombie fires” were never put out last year, and burned their way into the underlying peat (a problem in itself.)

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-12/california-wildfires-burn-20-times-as-much-land-as-last-year

‘A fire year’: California wildfires have burned more than 20 times as much land as last year

By Keri Blakinger
Staff Writer
July 12, 2024 3 AM PT

After a wet winter and hot summer, this year’s fire season is off to a fierce start. Here’s the latest to date, including the largest fires burning in California.

So far, more than 3,500 wildfires have eaten up at least 219,247 acres across the state, according to California fire officials. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, dozens of structures have been damaged or destroyed, and officials say at least one person has died.

“We are not just in a fire season, but we are in a fire year,” Joe Tyler, the head of Cal Fire, told reporters this week at a news conference.

400% more acres burned
The number of fires is only slightly higher than this time last year, but state data show that the acreage burned is more than 20 times greater. By this point in 2023, just over 3,000 blazes had consumed 10,398 acres. According to David Acuna, a Cal Fire battalion chief, the longer-term trends are similarly alarming.

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[2naSalit]

5. Yes, I know...

I see the smoke and was keeping a wary eye on them. The peat fires in Siberia have been going for several years now too.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. The burning peat is (IMHO) an underappreciated climate threat

It’s not as dramatic as the burning trees, but by far more serious.

[2naSalit]

7. I agree.