Category: International

Columbia Forest Fire International RFMRC-SEA

‘Can’t be any more clear’: Scientist says fires in Alberta linked to climate change

By: Colette Derworiz, The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, June 9, 2019

 

EDMONTON — In May 2016, a wildfire near Fort McMurray forced more than 80,000 people to flee the northern Alberta city, destroyed 2,400 buildings and burned nearly 6,000 square kilometres of forest.

A year later, the fire season in British Columbia broke records as 2,117 blazes consumed more than 12,000 square kilometres of bush.

Both have been connected to climate change in two separate research papers published earlier this year by scientists with Environment and Climate Change Canada. (more…)

International Resources RFMRC-SEA

Study: US West forest fires release less carbon than thought

Keith Ridler, Associated Press |

 

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere from forest fires in the U.S. West is being greatly overestimated, possibly leading to poor land management decisions, researchers at the University of Idaho said.

Researchers in the study published last week in the journal Global Change Biology say many estimates are 59% to 83% higher than what is found based on field observations.

(more…)

International RFMRC-SEA

Worst Forest Fires in Decades Continue to Gut Green Wealth, But Govt Has No Plan of Action

Hridayesh Joshi | 3 June 2019

 

While the government seems to have no effective disaster management plan in place to control such forest fires in the Himalayas (or elsewhere in the country) occurring every year, the total loss of forest wealth has gone beyond 2,000 hectares.

Ranikhet, Almora: As a raging fire continued to destroy precious wealth in the forests of Uttarakhand, scientists have warned that this may be among the worst infernos we have seen in nearly two decades.

While replying to a comment on the blaze, Mark Parrington, senior scientist working with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), wrote on Twitter, “Looking at the May monthly total fire radiative power, 2019 is second worst in 16 years after 2012.”

Parrington explained that radiative power is the quantity related to the intensity of the active fire which scientists use to estimate emissions of pollutants.

(more…)

Forest Fire Global International RFMRC-SEA Technology

These scientists are setting a forest on fire — and studying it with drones

By: Alexandra Witze | 28 May 2019

 

Data from the blaze in Utah could improve models of how wildfire smoke spreads.

Sometime in late June, if all goes to plan, a helicopter will hover above a thickly forested slope in Utah and set it ablaze. The goal is to clear out dead conifer trees to allow quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) to regain a foothold in this high-altitude national forest. But the blaze could also help scientists better understand wildfires.

(more…)

Global International Resources RFMRC-SEA

Clearing dead timber could prevent forest fires, experts say

by | 28 May 2019

 

A new restoration project proposed by Manti-La Sal National Forest will strip dead and diseased trees from a swath of Utah about the size of Bryce Canyon National Park.

The idea is to take out the most volatile fuel for potential wildfires which have grown in size, frequency and cost to fight.

(more…)

Canada Global International RFMRC-SEA

Warmer summer expected in the West spells bad news for forest fires

By: Justine Hunter  | 28 Mei 2019
HANDOUT/Reuters

 

With the wildfire season already under way in British Columbia and Alberta, Environment Canada is predicting a long, hot summer to come.

The wildfire threat has already forced evacuations in northwestern Alberta and central British Columbia, and the preliminary outlook for this summer points to worsening conditions, said David Phillips, Environment and Climate Change Canada’s senior climatologist.

(more…)

Global International RFMRC-SEA

Weather conditions remain a concern for northern Alberta firefighters but crews keeping flames at bay

By: The Canadian Press |
Chris Schwarz/The Canadian Press

 

Warmer temperatures, gusty winds and no rain continued to cause unpredictable conditions for firefighters in northern Alberta on Monday, but officials said measures to keep flames away from threatened communities were working.

The largest blaze in northern Alberta remained about three kilometres southwest of High Level, where crews have been bulldozing, back-burning and water bombing to ensure flames don’t creep closer to the town.

(more…)

Europe Global International RFMRC-SEA

EU establishes initial firefighting fleet for next forest fire season

By European Interest  | 21 May 2019

 

To prepare for the risk of forest fires during the upcoming summer, the Commission is launching today the first fleet of firefighting aircraft under the new rescEU system to tackle natural disasters. So far seven firefighting airplanes and six helicopters will be part of the rescEU fleet during an initial transition period, and the Commission is (more…)

INDIA International RFMRC-SEA

Forest fires: A burning issue for India

Meena Janardhan | 14 May 2019

 

The recent years have seen an alarming increase in forest fires across India. According to the Real Time Forest Alert System of the Forest Survey of India (FSI), the number of forest fires shot up to 14,107 from 4,225 between November 2018 and February 2019.

(more…)

INDIA International RFMRC-SEA

Six-fold increase in forest fires as temperatures rise in many states

By Ishan Kukreti | 10 May 2019

 

The Forest Survey of India’s large forest fires monitoring programme data shows that there are 192 large, active fires in the country today

As many states face higher than normal maximum temperature, instances of large fires have increased more than six times across the country within this week.

(more…)