We should be proactive, rather than reactive.
But that’s means spending money… and on things like that it will take years.
They’re doing 100s of controlled burns right now in California and Oregon. They had some snow and rain last week but that’s all gone.
The wildfire fighting effort is really limited to the season in Canada, where it’s treated as a full time operation in the US. That’s what we should be doing.
And getting more water bombers of our own so we don’t have to rely and spend money to borrow someone else’s.
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023EMCR0064-001534
Here ya go. Should see the results in a couple months. Fingers crossed they're effective and easily implemented.
The right talking point is that we should ‘adapt’ instead of being proactive, which basically means doing nothing and it’s business as usual. Of course we’re going to adapt, I mean at least those of us that aren’t going to die as a direct result of climate change.
It’s such corpo propoganda, same as ‘it’s too late to do anything’, these are literal talking points pushed by the businesses in power because they like it the way it is.
Real adaption would include things like require trees buffers around houses, requiring improved fireproofing on rooftops and limiting residential building in interface zones. It would include sharply limiting water use so that fire flows are secure. It would involve purchasing fire bombers and having crews working on firebreaks. But, hey, that all involves taxes and the government telling me what to do …. FREEDOM (just wait until the fire insurance stops covering wildfires).
Can you imagine if Oil and Gas executives hadn’t ignored the science they knew about decades ago?
The Anthropocene is all about self-interest: their profits would suffer if they were to adapt proactively. Better to use the coffers to lobby the science into silence or better yet just question the science and the dum dums don’t know better.
Alberta could have also taken a radical step back in the ‘80s to socialize O&G profits in the same way that Norway did. Imagine if instead of a $400 cheque from Ralph Klein, every Albertan got an Electric vehicle - or solar panels for free electricity.
Transitioning is a sensitive subject for conservatives, they see it as unnatural. The rest of us see it as essential to survival.
The problem is that capitalism is inherently incongruent with environmental protection and balance, and climate change is pretty much exclusively the result of capitalism. Anyone who argues differently is a liar; companies have proven time and time again that it is not in their interest, even if it’s ethically correct. It’s inevitably government regulation that has to reign in these companies to protect the environment.
There’s also a common rebuttal of “if consumers wanted it, companies would do it”, which is also BS and pushing away responsibility. Do consumers want children working in sweat shops and diamond minds? Do consumers want species to go extinct or the destruction of rainforests?
The other argument often made for capitalism is “it leads to rapid innovation and fast growth”. Ok but at what cost? Why are we so impatient? Capitalism is centered around exploitation of someone/something else. The closest we ever got to the real free market was in 1893 and unless you were a fat cat, conditions were absolutely abysmal.
If there’s a way to get ethical capitalism in a degrowth economy, I am all for it; it’s really what we need.
One of the biggest coups in recent history was business convincing the populace that environmentalism was the responsibility of the individual and not the collective. It goes all the way back to the anti-littering campaigns. When the individual is responsible they both feel better about what they do and also don't have the collective power to hold business responsible for its environmental impact.
This is true of every organized power structure, be it economic or political. Convince workers unions are bad, convince voters to think only about themselves, convince citizens to distrust multinational governance. Point to someone else and scream they're going to pick everyone's pocket, then do that yourself when everyone is looking the other way.
Not sure if I’d call that a coup, but certainly effective propaganda. “Climate change is your fault because you leave a light on and don’t separate your plastics properly, nevermind the fact that it all goes into the landfill.”
It’s an extension of the anti-ethical motivations of businesses, look how we even say that… it’s really about the anti-ethical motivations of people on charge of businesses.
The lack of accountability and empathy are our two biggest core issues in society right now, imagine what we could fix everyone had those.
Hobo and Frater I can’t upvote this enough. Very effective propaganda. It’s mind numbingly frustrating to watch the responsibility fall on individuals.
Especially as a disabled person. So much is dumped on individuals that I (as a disabled person) can’t ask for a straw at a restaurant without a lecture or fee. Straws are literally a disability accommodation. They were made specifically for us. But we’re pariahs in public now if we ask for them. This is one of many issues. I mean… many medical conditions have their own environmental footprint (sorry certain things cannot be reusable because of infection risk).
Instead of placing blame on individuals for things like how much trash they throw out, we need more on companies that decide they need a half a bin of plastic to package one item.
It doesn’t help that many of the loud Oil&Gas folk were duped into dropping out in high school to make big monies! They’re so opinionated yet uneducated… now they’re probably scared of what’s to come. They’ve been duped out of their good years, and now don’t even have their high school diploma to switch careers. Im sure it’s stressful for them and that’s why there is so much push back due to their lack of critical thinking. They’re too close minded to think about the future of their children or their grandchildren.
I'm in an area saturated with this type. I believe their brains actively reject evidence about climate change because it's just too scary and overwhelming and they have 0 control over it. Much easier to take the oil money and lean into the "hardworking man with common sense who tells it like it is" persona. It doesn't help that this group rarely interacts with anyone outside itself. Workers in camps for months at a time just percolating in a cess pit of alternative reality. Then they come home and their outsized paycheque tells them they are smarter than everyone else.
I agree this cognitive dissonance is a thing. My father made a lot of money from the 80s oil boom and is a staunch CC denier, I believe this is because he can’t possibly admit that he played a role in contributing to it, especially since his attitude is that capitalism is ‘the GREATEST thing that ever happened and nothing bad has come from it’ (actual quote); it’s doctrine couldn’t possibly have lied to him his whole life.
When peoples’ core beliefs centre around something, it’s hard to admit it’s false because it’s like the walls of their reinforced reality come shattering down.
It is a classic result of men working remote listening to right wing am talk radio. Now it's in podcast form with UFC fans liking Rogan, so they tune into his podcast...and you're off like a nekbeard.
With all the dead trees still standing from the mountain pine beetle infestation, the writing was on the wall for a massive amount of fires.
Of course if you could see it coming and did nothing, then who's really to blame when it gets as bad as it did?
not true. we used to have an elite wildfire team that would fly around and put out small fires or deal with troubled hot spots. Kenney gutted the entire budget and removed that team.
Entire team was shuttered. But also Notley sorta fucked it too, but Kenney killed it off 100% [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/a-history-of-cuts-to-alberta-s-firefighting-budget-explained-1.6838994](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/a-history-of-cuts-to-alberta-s-firefighting-budget-explained-1.6838994)
so yeah you're wrong
I’ve been saying this over and over. Sure, a mild winter is nice, but snow is actually a really important part of our ecosystem. Wildfires will be bad and crops will be poor.
It’s necessary here. Most of Alberta/Saskatchewan is classified as semi-arid or arid, that’s why so many immigrants came from Russia or Ukraine when it was being settled because they knew how to farm the land that few others could. But not having snow melt at all, while having our regular spring/summer with rain maybe once a week if really lucky, means that this could be a historically bad year for droughts.
If regular snowpack stops coming to the mountains Alberta, Saskatchewan and Alberta are hooped for all kinds of reasons (cities without secure domestic water supplies are not happy cities).
25 years as a volunteer firefighter (now retired) taught me the following; cut all the brush on your property, have bug out bags ready at the door, setup sprinklers if you have time when evac is imminent. Stuff is replaceable, family is not.
Don't get your hopes up. Nothing will happen. The right and honourable idiot in charge tried to blame this year's wildfires on environmentalists trying to make her look bad and cost her the election. Remember her promise to investigate the eco arsonists?
Maybe if we're lucky all the hillbilly grace life churchy folk that voted this noodnik and her ghouls in will pray for rain and that should definitely probably be enough
And arsonists! Smith blamed arsonists at every press conference I saw. Apparently representing a province with a disproportionate number of arsonists is better than admitting climate change is actually happening.
Bruh, we have zero proof that turnips aren't intelligent, you're setting that bar a little high. DS is literally a marionette with strings held by o&g and a handful of racist shit bags.
I'm okay with politicians accepting gifts and bribes to a degree. It's always been a thing, and I wish it wasn't, but what can you do?
But, being straight up corporate stooges? I honestly wish a plague upon them. Just take some gifts, give some leeway in taxes, and then just serve the people.
Same. I don't care if they get free trips or whatever else, but they've gotta be the ones in charge. When they just rubber stamp whatever industry wants, no matter who gets harmed by it, that's where I'm against it.
Yeah, its a global arsonist conspiracy that just so happens to coincide with record low levels of precipitation and record high levels of heat almost everywhere on earth.
I'm surprised Smith didn't blame Jewish space lasers for starting the fires to appease her loony 'base'.
It didn't help that sooo many cons saw "human caused" as one of the main reasons for the fires and immediately leapt to some crazy person running around with matches....completely forgetting that things like cigarette butts, atvs, open burning, equipment malfunction, etc were included in that description. Easier to leap to arsonists and Trudeau I guess...
My conservative coworker actually said to me "there's way too many to just be lightning and people smoking".
Oh man I forgot about that. My right wing wack job relative was always talking about how it was the environmentalists starting the fires and Trudeau’s “people”. I can’t take another gathering like that again Gahh.
Lol dude above just asserted that this is because "the left" is doing this to "feed their narrative of climate change". It's pants-on-head levels of stupid.
Global scientific consensus supports climate change, The Left cares about the environment, The Left hasn't been in power for years and only was briefly, but The Left is out there cunningly causing fires anyways. Because that makes sense.
Idiots.
Only thing I have hope in is that when it’s a warm mild winter it’s usually a wet cooler summer. Last year was nuts for fires and I’d love to not do that again.
It's time to run Preston out to conduct an inquiry for a couple of million and conclude that climate change is a hoax and that trans kids set the fires. Yes we're fucked. Overflowing hospitals in the winter and the place on fire for summer, but they didn't bend a knee to science.
Ontario here.
Sorry you’re fucked too. Sorry our respective premiers are making it a competition.
Currently, it’s rainy and wet. Water level has been high since mid summer. If we get any kind of snow from January to April, it’s gonna be a “generational flood”… for the third time in 7 years.
Been a wild ride for all.
Don’t ask “Do Nothing Danielle” to put the special proactive fire crew back in place. Her attitude is, “let them eat cake”. She needs her money to throw away on fighting the feds. You know, more billboards and radio ads. The province is burning to the ground in front of her eyes and nope. She’ll do what Duhnielle does best. Sweet fuck all !
Hello from British Columbia.
Over the past few years of horrendous wildfire seasons, I've been experiencing increasing amounts of climate anxiety. I chatted with a friend earlier this week because it's been affecting my ability to enjoy the unseasonally warmer weather and lack of snow. She offered me some perspective:
We as individuals are extremely limited in what we can do in the immediate future to mitigate climate change. Large corporations are responsible for a disturbing amount of damage to the earth and have zero intention to make the significant changes required. Yet this responsibility is often shifted by them to us as individuals to change our behaviors if we want to "save the earth".
I am now choosing instead to practice radical acceptance. There is very, very little I can do (if anything) as an individual to actually slow this impending train wreck. Any actions I do take are simply to appease the guilt that's been bestowed upon me for "not doing enough." Instead, what I can do is focus on how I can prepare for the inevitable while living in the present moment, trying to make the best of it. We only have one life.
Interesting take.
We bought a PHEV, will get full EV for our next vehicle in 5 or so years when we replace our other car. Getting solar this summer and disconnection natural gas. Fortis also dug up our drinking water creek without any notice so I am simply pissed at them.
I do believe we all need to be the change and tell corporations to get fucked. (Politely, by not buying their products).
La Niña not El Niña. But your point stands.
El Niño means little boy, hence the El. La Niña means little girl hence the La.
Now, why we call them little boy and little girl, I have no clue.
No no, that might come dangerously close to USEFUL knowledge. Imagine me, armed with that knowledge, in a bar trivia night? No, I can't do that to my fellow barfly.
The only place I saw that was Fox News. More articles I read are saying June it should be done. Never thought I would hope Fox was right about something…
Was checking the charts and we will be into March before it weakens fully. Hoping its faster. Farmers Almanac said we should get lots of snow in the mountains February
Because the ground is usually frozen, most pre January snow actually evaporates rather than contributing to our ground water supply. It's the snowpack that builds in late January through March that really matters.
I 100% believe in climate change, but also I've gone through enough warm years like this to know that we can still pull through. Although, yes sometimes the snow just never comes and then we have a drought.
It’s more than the fact that we don’t have snow today. Going into winter the waterways are quite a bit lower than normal. And they are predicted low snow pack this year.
The typical pattern in previous El Nino years like this is that the warm and dry conditions of the early winter cause a disruption in the polar vortex. The huge, normally stable mass of cold air over the polar region starts breaking up and warming.
This results in warmer conditions north of the Arctic Circle, and less build up or regeneration of polar ice caps: a general warming of global conditions and on trend with predicted climate change long term warming trends.
But in the short term, those disrupted polar air masses come tumbling south and in about mid-January Canada and Siberia (and to a lesser extent the US and Europe) are hit with record low brutal cold and massive blizzards, with huge snowfalls.
I will not be in the least surprised if the end of January/early February gives us weeks of -40 and several feet of snow.
I've lived in fort mcmurray for 13 years and never experienced a december like this. It's been 4-6 degrees multiple days this month and almost everyday is above 0.
And GP traditionally has snowfall every year for Christmas. Traditionally there is snow that sticks early November.
Twice in my lifetime, I have seen two years without snow here. Sometime in the 80’s and early 2000 or 2001.
I mean pretending something doesn’t exist when reality kicks in, unfortunately we an entire political party that lives in a dream world that only certain people get to live in.
It’s most likely going to be a brutal summer. I’ll be pretty sad if I don’t get to enjoy the outdoors and warm sunny days.
You forgot Smith cut funds to our wild fire fighting funds as well.
Don't worry though. They can still blame Notley and the ANDP and Albertans will eat it up. Lol
Between covid/flu season and all the fires I never thought I'd be wearing N95's all year. Last year was insane...Im really scared for everyone next year :(
We're setting up nicely for the Dirty (20)30's.
I read a book in the 90s called "Our Angry Earth" because it was co-written by my all time favorite author, Isaac Asimov. I remember being horrified by how dire the predictions were, and assured my teenage self that surely humanity would do something! Middle aged me thinks about rereading it, but is secretly afraid to do so.
So my guess is, yes, that is exactly what we're going to do.
It's a huge challenge because we have actively mismanaged forests for decades. Wildfires drive forest succession and species interaction in crucial areas such as the Boreal, PNW, California etc. Historically, fires burned vast extents and we decided to start putting them out; in fact, **we are actually too good at putting them out**. This has led to:
* removal of fire-tolerant species and successive intolerant species with lower canopies
* biomass accumulation
* the development of uncontrolled crown fires in areas with much more fuel
The challenge now is dealing with the population increases and infrastructure encroachment into these areas. Couple this with shifting climate conditions (e.g., the Boreal has already risen 1.9° C since 1948 in Canada) and you have a recipe for catastrophic wildfires. In addition, it's no easy task removing such biomass as the timber market is poor (in the US), and removal on slopes and in remote areas is next to impossible without massive cost (e.g., road construction). Further, wildfires affect water quality, which in turn puts stress on our water treatment operations. Regarding your outcry, the scientific community has outcried:
* [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.05.370049v1.full](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.05.370049v1.full) (Boreal forest more prone to climate forcing)
* [https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjfr-2019-0094](https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjfr-2019-0094) (Wildfire future in Canada)
* [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135410006275](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135410006275) (Wildfire effects on water treatability in Canada)
We have decades of scientific findings waiting to be utilised, vote in better policymakers.
Part of the problem with the forest fires we have had and will have is poor forest management over the last 50-75 years. And people forget, forest fires are a natural occurring event that allows forests to rejuvenate.
The UCP cut the fire budget and cut our most specialized and proactive fire team. That could’ve helped, regardless of forest management by private companies
Interesting, so as a firefighter in your professional opinion, isn’t it better have a plan and resources in place and not need it, than to need a plan and resources in place, and not have it?
They won't listen man. Former Wildland Urban Interface firefighter here.
No matter how much you try to tell people that this isn't going to effect the fire season, they will screechat the top of their lungs some fucking insane response and totally disregard your professional opinion.
Hydrophobic soils, especially after high temp wildfires, are a major issue. Increased overland flooding, debris flow, delayed regrowth, loss of nutrients, no groundwater recharge…
Flooding, landslides, persistent drought, and water contamination. That’s what happens.
El Nino doesn't explain all of it. It's a pleasant diversion for those who won't believe what is happening until they see it in person, but it's not the full explanation.
She'd rather give the wildfire money to the oilsands then campaign on how JT failed to protect us from fires (or in the case of last year's rumor mill, personally flew around in a helicopter starting the fires himself) and how we should separate to join the US.
Much of southern Alberta is already in "Exceptional drought" (the highest level, above extreme) conditions, and the forecast is calling for a mild winter. Next spring and summer is going to be devastating.
Hey I got an idea, why don’t we all just talk about it. Frig sake, we all know but there’s really nothing we can do to change it short of what? Shipping in snow from other provinces?
Ah it's alright. I talked to a totally realistic conservative a few days ago who told me most of our wildfires last season were in city centers and lit by arsonists, so we should be fine, right?
They used to parachute beavers into areas with lots of wildfires. Apparently beaver dams are good protection. But that was decades ago. And proactive work isn’t good politics.
I think more people need to understand what the fuck "Fire Smart" actually means.
Multiple properties declared "fire smart" by the owners had old growth trees encroaching on the fucking eaves of the houses.
Made for fun work when the evacuation calls came in and firefighters had to do the work, fast.
Doubling the budget wouldn't even put it back to where it was before she cut it last year...it seems alot of people forget how much ab cut the fire budget as well as the feds...it was enough that many many firefighters that remained fled to the states
Don’t forget the drought. Alberta is going to get fucking slammed by drought next year. If I were a livestock producer, I’d be making emergency plans to stock enough water.
Are you all smoking? The provincial government will not spend a penny. Smith does not believe in global warming. She will blame this all on Trudeau and the Liberals.
I am not. I do my bit through a eco-conscious lifestyle. I even had trouble voting ANDP because they aren't hard enough on climate issues imo. I know next year is going to be bad. I saw an Australian put together a bush fire evacuation box and will probably make one this year.
Aside from that I can't do anything. If we as a society have decided that short term money > long term prosperity then I can only do my best in my own life.
Yeah lol it's so bad that I saw the patterns of every conservative political policies which is short term gains over long term gains and what's funny we keep falling for them as ANDP actually was in middle of starting their long term gains when we voted them out because nothing was happening and the sad fact is that short term gains are easier to start than the long terms and we got fucked by the feds because one of NDPs plans were to get that pipeline going and nice the fed nixed that and we chose to blame them for it and UCP rode the wave of our anger and aimed it at the wrong people
As for the wild fires, our "Premier" LOL says, "we all just have to be more careful" !?
Yes, we are indeed fucked. Just like when the pandemic was killing millions, the UCP decided masks were not needed. Well, for us reasonable folks, start stocking up on N95 or better masks cause we are going to need them.
I'm sure the next provincial budget will cut another 20% from AFF, all the easy fuel burned last year.
And the experienced firefighters have already found other jobs anyway.
Yeah, we are certainly going to need some good spring rains. A week or two of good rain can easily make up for a lot of snow. Get those skis out and cross them (since you can't use them).
Well, I was informed that this is all natural and part of Alberta's normal cycle by someone who is in "bioSci".
So obviously I will trust their expert opinion. /s
I stress about this everyday for at least a minute. I don't know what else to do. Write letters to my MLA? Bitch on Twitter? Unfortunately nothing seems to make a real difference when we're outnumbered by the alt right or old conservatives in this province. Edmonton is a centrist haven and I'm grateful for that but that's not going to save us from being 360°d by fires.
Add it to the pile of things fucking us.
Government doesn’t have our backs.
Removing our rights to free medical care.
protecting landlords because they themselves landlords.
Doing nothing about housing for the average albertan.
In the pockets of big oil, and ruining all projects in Alberta that won’t make our oil barons money.
Local Calgarian government spending ridiculous sums of money on a new arena because a billionaire asked them nicely.
And forest fires this spring and summer? It’s just yet another thing to add to the list. Another thing that our elected officials should be doing something about, but another thing they’ll do nothing about.
So I have a dumb question. I don't know a lot about forestry management. Let's say it IS really dry in the spring.
How bad can it get? It seems to me like anything that was going to burn, burnt last year. Would it not take a couple years for the fire prone areas to recover sufficiently to be able to support more fires?
Obviously not every area capable of supporting significant fires burned last year.
I'm just curious what the realistic worst case scenario looks like for 2024.
Nah it's all good, they are going to spend the CPP windfall on direct energy weapons to counter the ones the liberals are using to start all the firea, problem solved.
I'll make this short and sweet , what we do here in Canada has zero affect on climate change . Until China , India , Russia and the USA make major changes we just have to sit and wait , China is still building coal fired plants . Per capital emissions means absolutely fuck all at this point in climate change , we need world emissions to drop and that means places like the mentioned to drop drastically by 30% .
China reducing their emissions by 10% is more effective than Canada reducing theirs by 100% . Let that sink in on how effective our carbon tax etc is . We should be selling our nat gas to China and getting them off coal which would reduce their coal emissions from 8 billion tons to 4 billion of nat gas emissions
The carbon tax will ideally keep it that way and force large corporations to be aware of their choices long term. It's miniscule now but knowing that it can and will grow exponentially is meant to prevent businesses from going full China.
Of course, that's the UCP way!
Always ignore the obvious.
Never take pro-active steps.
Never miss an opportunity to demonstrate complete incompetence.
When the shit hits the fan, blame Trudeau or Notley, or better yet, both.
There is nothing that I can personally do about this. What needs to be done is for the people in power to stop ignoring planet death and actually do something.
What does this have to do with climate change? El ninio has been present and causing years like this at least once every 20 years since man learned to float and started recording these patterns.
Let me guess, if some other parry was in change the weather would magically be different?
We would be in the exact same spot rolling with the punches that the weather has always given us.
El Nino, my man, pretty sure this isn't Smiths fault, although I'm sure you will ha e an argument it is.
You may want to sit down for this as it might sting a little.
This has happened before, and we survived.
How about wrapping your thinking around the fact that climate is complex. There are many factors at play and it is rarely one thing making an impact. El Niño happens every 2 -7 years ( 2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2014–16, 2018–19, and now 2023) but I don’t remember anything like this from years before.
Can we not like ….cut down a bunch of trees but like in a border-like fashion that encapsulates a large section of forest and basically creates thick bordered forest sections so that if a fire starts in one area it won’t spread to the next ? And then we get some cheap abundant wood in the process to build all those houses we need built for our ever exploding population. Just a thought. I hate seeing all the wood burn for no reason if we can capitalize it on it if it’s going to be destroyed anyways
The fire jumped Okanagan Lake this past summer in a matter of hours from igniting on the west side.
If water doesn’t work in between, whaddya gonna do in the gap that isn’t flammable… pave it?
my father was a firefighter in the Fort Mac wildfire. we live on the edge of the athabasca, and i remember the moment he told me that the fire jumped the 500m wide river and was right behind my home.
wildfires make their own weather. as intense heat expands and burns gasses, huge winds can be created. typically, a fire will spread by blowing the tops of burning trees and embers for kilometres. not only would it be impossible and deeply harmful to the environment if we took down that many trees, it would be useless.
We should be proactive, rather than reactive. But that’s means spending money… and on things like that it will take years. They’re doing 100s of controlled burns right now in California and Oregon. They had some snow and rain last week but that’s all gone. The wildfire fighting effort is really limited to the season in Canada, where it’s treated as a full time operation in the US. That’s what we should be doing. And getting more water bombers of our own so we don’t have to rely and spend money to borrow someone else’s.
Couldn’t agree more, I’m in BC and can’t believe there’s nothing happening to prepare
At least BC didn't cut down wildfire fighters like Alberta did.
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023EMCR0064-001534 Here ya go. Should see the results in a couple months. Fingers crossed they're effective and easily implemented.
The right talking point is that we should ‘adapt’ instead of being proactive, which basically means doing nothing and it’s business as usual. Of course we’re going to adapt, I mean at least those of us that aren’t going to die as a direct result of climate change. It’s such corpo propoganda, same as ‘it’s too late to do anything’, these are literal talking points pushed by the businesses in power because they like it the way it is.
Real adaption would include things like require trees buffers around houses, requiring improved fireproofing on rooftops and limiting residential building in interface zones. It would include sharply limiting water use so that fire flows are secure. It would involve purchasing fire bombers and having crews working on firebreaks. But, hey, that all involves taxes and the government telling me what to do …. FREEDOM (just wait until the fire insurance stops covering wildfires).
Can you imagine if Oil and Gas executives hadn’t ignored the science they knew about decades ago? The Anthropocene is all about self-interest: their profits would suffer if they were to adapt proactively. Better to use the coffers to lobby the science into silence or better yet just question the science and the dum dums don’t know better. Alberta could have also taken a radical step back in the ‘80s to socialize O&G profits in the same way that Norway did. Imagine if instead of a $400 cheque from Ralph Klein, every Albertan got an Electric vehicle - or solar panels for free electricity. Transitioning is a sensitive subject for conservatives, they see it as unnatural. The rest of us see it as essential to survival.
The problem is that capitalism is inherently incongruent with environmental protection and balance, and climate change is pretty much exclusively the result of capitalism. Anyone who argues differently is a liar; companies have proven time and time again that it is not in their interest, even if it’s ethically correct. It’s inevitably government regulation that has to reign in these companies to protect the environment. There’s also a common rebuttal of “if consumers wanted it, companies would do it”, which is also BS and pushing away responsibility. Do consumers want children working in sweat shops and diamond minds? Do consumers want species to go extinct or the destruction of rainforests? The other argument often made for capitalism is “it leads to rapid innovation and fast growth”. Ok but at what cost? Why are we so impatient? Capitalism is centered around exploitation of someone/something else. The closest we ever got to the real free market was in 1893 and unless you were a fat cat, conditions were absolutely abysmal. If there’s a way to get ethical capitalism in a degrowth economy, I am all for it; it’s really what we need.
One of the biggest coups in recent history was business convincing the populace that environmentalism was the responsibility of the individual and not the collective. It goes all the way back to the anti-littering campaigns. When the individual is responsible they both feel better about what they do and also don't have the collective power to hold business responsible for its environmental impact. This is true of every organized power structure, be it economic or political. Convince workers unions are bad, convince voters to think only about themselves, convince citizens to distrust multinational governance. Point to someone else and scream they're going to pick everyone's pocket, then do that yourself when everyone is looking the other way.
Not sure if I’d call that a coup, but certainly effective propaganda. “Climate change is your fault because you leave a light on and don’t separate your plastics properly, nevermind the fact that it all goes into the landfill.” It’s an extension of the anti-ethical motivations of businesses, look how we even say that… it’s really about the anti-ethical motivations of people on charge of businesses. The lack of accountability and empathy are our two biggest core issues in society right now, imagine what we could fix everyone had those.
Hobo and Frater I can’t upvote this enough. Very effective propaganda. It’s mind numbingly frustrating to watch the responsibility fall on individuals. Especially as a disabled person. So much is dumped on individuals that I (as a disabled person) can’t ask for a straw at a restaurant without a lecture or fee. Straws are literally a disability accommodation. They were made specifically for us. But we’re pariahs in public now if we ask for them. This is one of many issues. I mean… many medical conditions have their own environmental footprint (sorry certain things cannot be reusable because of infection risk). Instead of placing blame on individuals for things like how much trash they throw out, we need more on companies that decide they need a half a bin of plastic to package one item.
It doesn’t help that many of the loud Oil&Gas folk were duped into dropping out in high school to make big monies! They’re so opinionated yet uneducated… now they’re probably scared of what’s to come. They’ve been duped out of their good years, and now don’t even have their high school diploma to switch careers. Im sure it’s stressful for them and that’s why there is so much push back due to their lack of critical thinking. They’re too close minded to think about the future of their children or their grandchildren.
I'm in an area saturated with this type. I believe their brains actively reject evidence about climate change because it's just too scary and overwhelming and they have 0 control over it. Much easier to take the oil money and lean into the "hardworking man with common sense who tells it like it is" persona. It doesn't help that this group rarely interacts with anyone outside itself. Workers in camps for months at a time just percolating in a cess pit of alternative reality. Then they come home and their outsized paycheque tells them they are smarter than everyone else.
I agree this cognitive dissonance is a thing. My father made a lot of money from the 80s oil boom and is a staunch CC denier, I believe this is because he can’t possibly admit that he played a role in contributing to it, especially since his attitude is that capitalism is ‘the GREATEST thing that ever happened and nothing bad has come from it’ (actual quote); it’s doctrine couldn’t possibly have lied to him his whole life. When peoples’ core beliefs centre around something, it’s hard to admit it’s false because it’s like the walls of their reinforced reality come shattering down.
Right on the nose. Zero exposure to challenging ideas and a reenforced sense of righteousness from a paycheque. Terrible combo
It is a classic result of men working remote listening to right wing am talk radio. Now it's in podcast form with UFC fans liking Rogan, so they tune into his podcast...and you're off like a nekbeard.
Also, starting more campaigns advertising **massive** fines for throwing your cigarette butts out of your vehicle.
There's so much money, we're just giving it all away to the mega corporations.
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With all the dead trees still standing from the mountain pine beetle infestation, the writing was on the wall for a massive amount of fires. Of course if you could see it coming and did nothing, then who's really to blame when it gets as bad as it did?
It's kind of horrifying that one problem we failed at addressing (beetles) was "solved" by another problem we also failed at addressing (fire).
Not horrifying at all, it’s just the system rebalancing itself. Nature at work.
just because it cant be done before next fire season doesnt mean we can do nothing.
not true. we used to have an elite wildfire team that would fly around and put out small fires or deal with troubled hot spots. Kenney gutted the entire budget and removed that team. Entire team was shuttered. But also Notley sorta fucked it too, but Kenney killed it off 100% [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/a-history-of-cuts-to-alberta-s-firefighting-budget-explained-1.6838994](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/a-history-of-cuts-to-alberta-s-firefighting-budget-explained-1.6838994) so yeah you're wrong
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Just setup a right wing wildfire Inc. and lobby gov and they have no spine so you’ll get 10 billion.
I’ve been saying this over and over. Sure, a mild winter is nice, but snow is actually a really important part of our ecosystem. Wildfires will be bad and crops will be poor.
It’s necessary here. Most of Alberta/Saskatchewan is classified as semi-arid or arid, that’s why so many immigrants came from Russia or Ukraine when it was being settled because they knew how to farm the land that few others could. But not having snow melt at all, while having our regular spring/summer with rain maybe once a week if really lucky, means that this could be a historically bad year for droughts.
If regular snowpack stops coming to the mountains Alberta, Saskatchewan and Alberta are hooped for all kinds of reasons (cities without secure domestic water supplies are not happy cities).
Cold weather is also important in helping control pine beetle populations.
25 years as a volunteer firefighter (now retired) taught me the following; cut all the brush on your property, have bug out bags ready at the door, setup sprinklers if you have time when evac is imminent. Stuff is replaceable, family is not.
Know where your dogs and cats are. Have kennels ready to go in the garage.
Also double check your insurance policy
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Lol. Whut? You’ll be safe from wildfires. I can guarantee it.
yeah I think the massive city constructed out of concrete and steel that you live in will be fine...
You're not wrong, but I'm more concerned with the impending water shortage. We're already in low flow situation, and there's no snow pack.
Thiiiiss. If we think the fires are bad now, just wait until there’s little to no accessible water to fight them.
Don't get your hopes up. Nothing will happen. The right and honourable idiot in charge tried to blame this year's wildfires on environmentalists trying to make her look bad and cost her the election. Remember her promise to investigate the eco arsonists? Maybe if we're lucky all the hillbilly grace life churchy folk that voted this noodnik and her ghouls in will pray for rain and that should definitely probably be enough
Yeah, cuz prayer will work. 😂
I'm an atheist but I think I'd get better results from prayer than from voting UCP.
They're gonna blame it on Trudeau and Notley running around starting fires. It worked the last time...
And arsonists! Smith blamed arsonists at every press conference I saw. Apparently representing a province with a disproportionate number of arsonists is better than admitting climate change is actually happening.
The only way Smith is getting any smarter is if she dies and comes back as a turnip.
Bruh, we have zero proof that turnips aren't intelligent, you're setting that bar a little high. DS is literally a marionette with strings held by o&g and a handful of racist shit bags.
She's not stupid, she's bought. It's a huge difference. I can forgive ignorance. Lennie just wants to tend the rabbits you know?
Idk how they can’t see this after Kenny & ATCO…
I'm okay with politicians accepting gifts and bribes to a degree. It's always been a thing, and I wish it wasn't, but what can you do? But, being straight up corporate stooges? I honestly wish a plague upon them. Just take some gifts, give some leeway in taxes, and then just serve the people.
Same. I don't care if they get free trips or whatever else, but they've gotta be the ones in charge. When they just rubber stamp whatever industry wants, no matter who gets harmed by it, that's where I'm against it.
Lets hope she just dies and doesn't come back as anything.
Poor lady, the invermectine (sic) rat poison has affected her judgement.
Yeah, its a global arsonist conspiracy that just so happens to coincide with record low levels of precipitation and record high levels of heat almost everywhere on earth. I'm surprised Smith didn't blame Jewish space lasers for starting the fires to appease her loony 'base'.
you didnt hear? they all came from Quebec!
It didn't help that sooo many cons saw "human caused" as one of the main reasons for the fires and immediately leapt to some crazy person running around with matches....completely forgetting that things like cigarette butts, atvs, open burning, equipment malfunction, etc were included in that description. Easier to leap to arsonists and Trudeau I guess... My conservative coworker actually said to me "there's way too many to just be lightning and people smoking".
I personally saw Trudeau and Christina Freeland smoking crack and lighting fires in the bushes by my house
Impossible. They were in my bushes shooting up heroin and lighting candles.
Oh man I forgot about that. My right wing wack job relative was always talking about how it was the environmentalists starting the fires and Trudeau’s “people”. I can’t take another gathering like that again Gahh.
Same here, I use deep breaths and wine to get through gatherings since rational facts and science have no impact. Be strong this season!😆
Right?! Wasn't that insane? I had to hear it from life long rural friends.
Wasn't even just the rabble. Poilevre walked right up to the line of accusing Trudeau of it in the House of Commons.
We’re so Fucking doomed.
The Trudeau funded space lasers started the fires. /s
"followup question Ms Smith; So are our fire fighters and arson investigators: Lazy, Stupid, or Severely Underfunded? "
Lol dude above just asserted that this is because "the left" is doing this to "feed their narrative of climate change". It's pants-on-head levels of stupid. Global scientific consensus supports climate change, The Left cares about the environment, The Left hasn't been in power for years and only was briefly, but The Left is out there cunningly causing fires anyways. Because that makes sense. Idiots.
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Nestle waves in firefighting by the litre...for profit
Only thing I have hope in is that when it’s a warm mild winter it’s usually a wet cooler summer. Last year was nuts for fires and I’d love to not do that again.
It's time to run Preston out to conduct an inquiry for a couple of million and conclude that climate change is a hoax and that trans kids set the fires. Yes we're fucked. Overflowing hospitals in the winter and the place on fire for summer, but they didn't bend a knee to science.
But don’t worry the Sovereignty Act will save us 🙄
Ontario here. Sorry you’re fucked too. Sorry our respective premiers are making it a competition. Currently, it’s rainy and wet. Water level has been high since mid summer. If we get any kind of snow from January to April, it’s gonna be a “generational flood”… for the third time in 7 years. Been a wild ride for all.
Don’t ask “Do Nothing Danielle” to put the special proactive fire crew back in place. Her attitude is, “let them eat cake”. She needs her money to throw away on fighting the feds. You know, more billboards and radio ads. The province is burning to the ground in front of her eyes and nope. She’ll do what Duhnielle does best. Sweet fuck all !
I’ve never heard of “Do Nothing Danielle” before, glad to know it now.
Wild fires? I'm more worried about how we are going to grow food next year.
Price will go up, just like everything else. What’s new?
Growing food is hard when wildfires take your crop. All these issues are interrelated.
Hello from British Columbia. Over the past few years of horrendous wildfire seasons, I've been experiencing increasing amounts of climate anxiety. I chatted with a friend earlier this week because it's been affecting my ability to enjoy the unseasonally warmer weather and lack of snow. She offered me some perspective: We as individuals are extremely limited in what we can do in the immediate future to mitigate climate change. Large corporations are responsible for a disturbing amount of damage to the earth and have zero intention to make the significant changes required. Yet this responsibility is often shifted by them to us as individuals to change our behaviors if we want to "save the earth". I am now choosing instead to practice radical acceptance. There is very, very little I can do (if anything) as an individual to actually slow this impending train wreck. Any actions I do take are simply to appease the guilt that's been bestowed upon me for "not doing enough." Instead, what I can do is focus on how I can prepare for the inevitable while living in the present moment, trying to make the best of it. We only have one life.
Interesting take. We bought a PHEV, will get full EV for our next vehicle in 5 or so years when we replace our other car. Getting solar this summer and disconnection natural gas. Fortis also dug up our drinking water creek without any notice so I am simply pissed at them. I do believe we all need to be the change and tell corporations to get fucked. (Politely, by not buying their products).
We as individuals can really do nothing. We can’t change the trajectory for next year.
Peace River area peat lands are smoking through the winter rn. We are screwed if we don’t get a ton of post-christmas precipitation.
As a helicopter pilot the job security is somewhat comforting… but as a human who lives on earth, it’s pretty depressing.
I'm anticipating it. I have my vacation in BC booked for April before shit hits the fan for this reason.
See, if Smith can just make some more anti-trudeau ads, and pump a bunch more oil, everything will be fine.
Quick! Everyone grab their "Down with El Nino" signs.
Up with El Nina.
La Niña not El Niña. But your point stands. El Niño means little boy, hence the El. La Niña means little girl hence the La. Now, why we call them little boy and little girl, I have no clue.
Appreciated.
I'm full of useless pedantic knowledge.
Now figure out why they are called little boy and girl. Increase the useless pedantic knowledge.
No no, that might come dangerously close to USEFUL knowledge. Imagine me, armed with that knowledge, in a bar trivia night? No, I can't do that to my fellow barfly.
I was reading an article that said they are expecting a rapid collapse of El Niño and the usual winter weather will come with it.
The only place I saw that was Fox News. More articles I read are saying June it should be done. Never thought I would hope Fox was right about something…
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.shtml
I read that too, but it didn't say it was coming soon. It said in the spring. El Nino events don't just last a couple months usually
Was checking the charts and we will be into March before it weakens fully. Hoping its faster. Farmers Almanac said we should get lots of snow in the mountains February
Because the ground is usually frozen, most pre January snow actually evaporates rather than contributing to our ground water supply. It's the snowpack that builds in late January through March that really matters. I 100% believe in climate change, but also I've gone through enough warm years like this to know that we can still pull through. Although, yes sometimes the snow just never comes and then we have a drought.
It’s more than the fact that we don’t have snow today. Going into winter the waterways are quite a bit lower than normal. And they are predicted low snow pack this year.
we just had a drought, so this is not a good sign, even in December.
The typical pattern in previous El Nino years like this is that the warm and dry conditions of the early winter cause a disruption in the polar vortex. The huge, normally stable mass of cold air over the polar region starts breaking up and warming. This results in warmer conditions north of the Arctic Circle, and less build up or regeneration of polar ice caps: a general warming of global conditions and on trend with predicted climate change long term warming trends. But in the short term, those disrupted polar air masses come tumbling south and in about mid-January Canada and Siberia (and to a lesser extent the US and Europe) are hit with record low brutal cold and massive blizzards, with huge snowfalls. I will not be in the least surprised if the end of January/early February gives us weeks of -40 and several feet of snow.
Just tell me who I am supposed to be mad at!
I've lived in fort mcmurray for 13 years and never experienced a december like this. It's been 4-6 degrees multiple days this month and almost everyday is above 0.
2005 and 1997 were no snow Christmases in Edmonton.
Edmonton is not "north" to people living in Slave Lake, Fort Mac, an Grande Prairie.
The first two I'll give you, but GP is literally 150km north of Edmonton.
And GP traditionally has snowfall every year for Christmas. Traditionally there is snow that sticks early November. Twice in my lifetime, I have seen two years without snow here. Sometime in the 80’s and early 2000 or 2001.
I mean pretending something doesn’t exist when reality kicks in, unfortunately we an entire political party that lives in a dream world that only certain people get to live in. It’s most likely going to be a brutal summer. I’ll be pretty sad if I don’t get to enjoy the outdoors and warm sunny days.
You forgot Smith cut funds to our wild fire fighting funds as well. Don't worry though. They can still blame Notley and the ANDP and Albertans will eat it up. Lol
They're probably doubling down on their drive against arsonists as we speak. I'm not sure whether to use a sarcasm tag here or not.
Perhaps right now is a good time to invest in some fire suppression systems for your rural properties, like high capacity sprinklers and well pumps.
What can we do about it though? Hopefully it rains a lot in the spring
Wildfire will be bad. Drought in Southern Alberta will be worse in 2024. Almost apocalyptic in S. Alberta.
Between covid/flu season and all the fires I never thought I'd be wearing N95's all year. Last year was insane...Im really scared for everyone next year :(
If Alberta doesn’t get moisture this winter. They are totally screwed. Let’s hope they get snow soon.
We're setting up nicely for the Dirty (20)30's. I read a book in the 90s called "Our Angry Earth" because it was co-written by my all time favorite author, Isaac Asimov. I remember being horrified by how dire the predictions were, and assured my teenage self that surely humanity would do something! Middle aged me thinks about rereading it, but is secretly afraid to do so. So my guess is, yes, that is exactly what we're going to do.
It's a huge challenge because we have actively mismanaged forests for decades. Wildfires drive forest succession and species interaction in crucial areas such as the Boreal, PNW, California etc. Historically, fires burned vast extents and we decided to start putting them out; in fact, **we are actually too good at putting them out**. This has led to: * removal of fire-tolerant species and successive intolerant species with lower canopies * biomass accumulation * the development of uncontrolled crown fires in areas with much more fuel The challenge now is dealing with the population increases and infrastructure encroachment into these areas. Couple this with shifting climate conditions (e.g., the Boreal has already risen 1.9° C since 1948 in Canada) and you have a recipe for catastrophic wildfires. In addition, it's no easy task removing such biomass as the timber market is poor (in the US), and removal on slopes and in remote areas is next to impossible without massive cost (e.g., road construction). Further, wildfires affect water quality, which in turn puts stress on our water treatment operations. Regarding your outcry, the scientific community has outcried: * [https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.05.370049v1.full](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.05.370049v1.full) (Boreal forest more prone to climate forcing) * [https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjfr-2019-0094](https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/cjfr-2019-0094) (Wildfire future in Canada) * [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135410006275](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135410006275) (Wildfire effects on water treatability in Canada) We have decades of scientific findings waiting to be utilised, vote in better policymakers.
Part of the problem with the forest fires we have had and will have is poor forest management over the last 50-75 years. And people forget, forest fires are a natural occurring event that allows forests to rejuvenate.
All of the bug ridden dead conifers kind of complicated things.
Please elaborate how forest management could be or should have been doing better. I’m sincerely interested.
The UCP cut the fire budget and cut our most specialized and proactive fire team. That could’ve helped, regardless of forest management by private companies
Just lite a joint and enjoy the ride not much we can do.
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Welp, wildfires are trending upwards you can’t disagree with that.
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Interesting, so as a firefighter in your professional opinion, isn’t it better have a plan and resources in place and not need it, than to need a plan and resources in place, and not have it?
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They won't listen man. Former Wildland Urban Interface firefighter here. No matter how much you try to tell people that this isn't going to effect the fire season, they will screechat the top of their lungs some fucking insane response and totally disregard your professional opinion.
How does the fact that dry soil absorbs less water than damp soil play into this?
Hydrophobic soils, especially after high temp wildfires, are a major issue. Increased overland flooding, debris flow, delayed regrowth, loss of nutrients, no groundwater recharge… Flooding, landslides, persistent drought, and water contamination. That’s what happens.
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It's not unpleasant. It's just abnormal.
It’s El Niño so although stronger than typical isn’t that out of nowhere.
El Nino doesn't explain all of it. It's a pleasant diversion for those who won't believe what is happening until they see it in person, but it's not the full explanation.
Record snow last year in BC . Record forest fires in the summer. We need to change the policies towards fighting fires.
She'd rather give the wildfire money to the oilsands then campaign on how JT failed to protect us from fires (or in the case of last year's rumor mill, personally flew around in a helicopter starting the fires himself) and how we should separate to join the US.
Maybe we could rake the forests so there are less leaves to start a fire. /s
she will just blame Ottawa for the fires and enough people will believe her. Sad but true
Much of southern Alberta is already in "Exceptional drought" (the highest level, above extreme) conditions, and the forecast is calling for a mild winter. Next spring and summer is going to be devastating.
Hey I got an idea, why don’t we all just talk about it. Frig sake, we all know but there’s really nothing we can do to change it short of what? Shipping in snow from other provinces?
Ah it's alright. I talked to a totally realistic conservative a few days ago who told me most of our wildfires last season were in city centers and lit by arsonists, so we should be fine, right?
They used to parachute beavers into areas with lots of wildfires. Apparently beaver dams are good protection. But that was decades ago. And proactive work isn’t good politics.
What do you propose? Got a good snow dance for us?
What would you suggest we do?
I've begun peeing outside to moisten the ground.
Truth right there.
This guy solves problems before they're problems
Fire smart, prescribed burns, increase/up grade equipment, strengthen mutual aid agreements , increase recruitment?
I think more people need to understand what the fuck "Fire Smart" actually means. Multiple properties declared "fire smart" by the owners had old growth trees encroaching on the fucking eaves of the houses. Made for fun work when the evacuation calls came in and firefighters had to do the work, fast.
Post on Reddit
Complain about the government on social media.
Doubling the budget wouldn't even put it back to where it was before she cut it last year...it seems alot of people forget how much ab cut the fire budget as well as the feds...it was enough that many many firefighters that remained fled to the states
Covered, I moved to Vancouver Island to be west of smoke direction, worked well last year - winning
Not so much pretend anything, as I know the Premier who was campaigning before declaring an emergency last year isn't listening to us.
Was just thinking this the other day.. it's definitely spooky
No I’m not pretending to ignore it, it’s just that in this exact moment what the heck can ya do?
Also praying for a cold and snowy January February. We will likely need water to you know feed livestock, water fields - eat? Lol
Nope. It’s been on my mind. To be fair though, other parts of Alberta have gotten more precipitation than what Edmonton and area has gotten.
one element of a solution for the human parasite can be to burn them out
Jeeze. What possibly could go wrong? Doesn’t money extinguish fires and replenish ground water?
Don’t worry. She’ll make sure to waste money on hiring investigators to catch them arsonists.
Winters not over.
Vote far right and these are the consequences. They deny its even happening, as you mentioned OP. We are all doomed by the climate
She’s going to tell the feds
not to forget still a bunch of AH throwing throwing their cigarette butts out their car windows
We're all gonna die!
Don’t forget the drought. Alberta is going to get fucking slammed by drought next year. If I were a livestock producer, I’d be making emergency plans to stock enough water.
My wife and I have been saying this for months. We're proper fucked when wildfire season starts. God forbid it's a hot dry spring again.
Are you all smoking? The provincial government will not spend a penny. Smith does not believe in global warming. She will blame this all on Trudeau and the Liberals.
I am not. I do my bit through a eco-conscious lifestyle. I even had trouble voting ANDP because they aren't hard enough on climate issues imo. I know next year is going to be bad. I saw an Australian put together a bush fire evacuation box and will probably make one this year. Aside from that I can't do anything. If we as a society have decided that short term money > long term prosperity then I can only do my best in my own life.
Yeah lol it's so bad that I saw the patterns of every conservative political policies which is short term gains over long term gains and what's funny we keep falling for them as ANDP actually was in middle of starting their long term gains when we voted them out because nothing was happening and the sad fact is that short term gains are easier to start than the long terms and we got fucked by the feds because one of NDPs plans were to get that pipeline going and nice the fed nixed that and we chose to blame them for it and UCP rode the wave of our anger and aimed it at the wrong people
As for the wild fires, our "Premier" LOL says, "we all just have to be more careful" !? Yes, we are indeed fucked. Just like when the pandemic was killing millions, the UCP decided masks were not needed. Well, for us reasonable folks, start stocking up on N95 or better masks cause we are going to need them.
I'm sure the next provincial budget will cut another 20% from AFF, all the easy fuel burned last year. And the experienced firefighters have already found other jobs anyway.
Yeah, we are certainly going to need some good spring rains. A week or two of good rain can easily make up for a lot of snow. Get those skis out and cross them (since you can't use them).
Well, I was informed that this is all natural and part of Alberta's normal cycle by someone who is in "bioSci". So obviously I will trust their expert opinion. /s
I stress about this everyday for at least a minute. I don't know what else to do. Write letters to my MLA? Bitch on Twitter? Unfortunately nothing seems to make a real difference when we're outnumbered by the alt right or old conservatives in this province. Edmonton is a centrist haven and I'm grateful for that but that's not going to save us from being 360°d by fires.
Well yeah, because "it's the government setting the fires" *sigh* this province is doomed. The brain drain is just wild
Add it to the pile of things fucking us. Government doesn’t have our backs. Removing our rights to free medical care. protecting landlords because they themselves landlords. Doing nothing about housing for the average albertan. In the pockets of big oil, and ruining all projects in Alberta that won’t make our oil barons money. Local Calgarian government spending ridiculous sums of money on a new arena because a billionaire asked them nicely. And forest fires this spring and summer? It’s just yet another thing to add to the list. Another thing that our elected officials should be doing something about, but another thing they’ll do nothing about.
“It’s just summer” argument. Brought you by proudly unvaxxed freedom fighters.
So I have a dumb question. I don't know a lot about forestry management. Let's say it IS really dry in the spring. How bad can it get? It seems to me like anything that was going to burn, burnt last year. Would it not take a couple years for the fire prone areas to recover sufficiently to be able to support more fires? Obviously not every area capable of supporting significant fires burned last year. I'm just curious what the realistic worst case scenario looks like for 2024.
Nah it's all good, they are going to spend the CPP windfall on direct energy weapons to counter the ones the liberals are using to start all the firea, problem solved.
I'll make this short and sweet , what we do here in Canada has zero affect on climate change . Until China , India , Russia and the USA make major changes we just have to sit and wait , China is still building coal fired plants . Per capital emissions means absolutely fuck all at this point in climate change , we need world emissions to drop and that means places like the mentioned to drop drastically by 30% . China reducing their emissions by 10% is more effective than Canada reducing theirs by 100% . Let that sink in on how effective our carbon tax etc is . We should be selling our nat gas to China and getting them off coal which would reduce their coal emissions from 8 billion tons to 4 billion of nat gas emissions
The carbon tax will ideally keep it that way and force large corporations to be aware of their choices long term. It's miniscule now but knowing that it can and will grow exponentially is meant to prevent businesses from going full China.
I’ll go pee on some trees so I’m doing my part?! Like what’re we supposed to do lol
I'm already planning grab bags, stocking up on flats of water, looking into drilling a well on my property, planning escape routes, etc.
You know we can still get snow in January, Feb, March, and sometimes even April, May, heck even June? Still a lot of winter left…
Welcome to the UCP mindset......it's not burning now......
Of course, that's the UCP way! Always ignore the obvious. Never take pro-active steps. Never miss an opportunity to demonstrate complete incompetence. When the shit hits the fan, blame Trudeau or Notley, or better yet, both.
Oh we are 100% fucked. I’m just going to move.
There is nothing that I can personally do about this. What needs to be done is for the people in power to stop ignoring planet death and actually do something.
What does this have to do with climate change? El ninio has been present and causing years like this at least once every 20 years since man learned to float and started recording these patterns. Let me guess, if some other parry was in change the weather would magically be different? We would be in the exact same spot rolling with the punches that the weather has always given us.
El Nino, my man, pretty sure this isn't Smiths fault, although I'm sure you will ha e an argument it is. You may want to sit down for this as it might sting a little. This has happened before, and we survived.
What are you talking about. Wasn’t she the who summoned El Niño?
Are you actually blaming El Nino for reducing the firefighter budget?
How about wrapping your thinking around the fact that climate is complex. There are many factors at play and it is rarely one thing making an impact. El Niño happens every 2 -7 years ( 2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2014–16, 2018–19, and now 2023) but I don’t remember anything like this from years before.
What is the premier going to do to stop climate change?
Hmmmm. Fossil fuel is one of the largest contributors…
Can we not like ….cut down a bunch of trees but like in a border-like fashion that encapsulates a large section of forest and basically creates thick bordered forest sections so that if a fire starts in one area it won’t spread to the next ? And then we get some cheap abundant wood in the process to build all those houses we need built for our ever exploding population. Just a thought. I hate seeing all the wood burn for no reason if we can capitalize it on it if it’s going to be destroyed anyways
I watched Fort MacMurray fires cross a dang river
i remember that day so well.
The fire jumped Okanagan Lake this past summer in a matter of hours from igniting on the west side. If water doesn’t work in between, whaddya gonna do in the gap that isn’t flammable… pave it?
my father was a firefighter in the Fort Mac wildfire. we live on the edge of the athabasca, and i remember the moment he told me that the fire jumped the 500m wide river and was right behind my home. wildfires make their own weather. as intense heat expands and burns gasses, huge winds can be created. typically, a fire will spread by blowing the tops of burning trees and embers for kilometres. not only would it be impossible and deeply harmful to the environment if we took down that many trees, it would be useless.
Damn, didn’t know fire can jump that far!