Quote:
Originally Posted by 240glt
Something is changing, no doubt. As I kid I barely remember major fires in BC. There have always been forest fires but the size and intensity of those fires seem to be growing. Now it's almost a foregone conclusion that every summer there will be a major wildfire issue somewhere in the province.
I also remember growing up in the Okanagan, having fairly cold and snow winters. Now for at least the last 10-15 years, winters seem to have gotten a lot milder with a lot less snow.
Things are definitely changing and I think it's important to keep thinking about. As posted above, it's hard to determine exactly what is causing this but I think we need to be aware that things are changing, denial is not an option.
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The most annoying cliché in use today is "denial is not an option." Don't use it again.
Something is changing no doubt. Yes, and 30 years ago when you'd talk to old native elders they would tell stories about hunting in the Okanagan region in the 1920s and coming across an animal we call the moose, and no one knew what it was. This is because there was no moose in southwestern BC or Washington State before 1920. So, yes, things always change. No one denies that.
When people say "denial is not an option" they really mean that they put forward a bunch of anecdotes, and then demand that no one questions them. That is really annoying, especially for those who are intellectually curious.
You talk about growing up in the Okanagan and not seeing much in the way of fires. Well, that's because you probably grew up in the 1970s, 80s, or 90s... the three decades with the least amount of fire activity on record. Prior to 1943 the forest
used to burn once every 15 years. At the rate we've seen over the past two years, we could be on pace to see this again going forward.
There's no question that 2017 and 2018 were off the charts crazy in terms of fire, but you cannot pick a couple of years and call it the new normal. The flood of 1894 was off the charts crazy. The cold of 1949 and 1950 was off the charts crazy. The heat of 1941 was off the charts crazy. The extreme cold snaps in the fall of 1985 was off the charts crazy. The extreme snowpack of 1971, 72, 74, and 75 were off the charts crazy. The extreme snowpack of 1999 was also off the charts crazy. The flooding of 2018 was off the charts crazy.
You get crazy extremes all the time every year. In fact, if you take, let's say precipitation, temperature (max and min), flooding, and drought, with 2000 stations in Canada measuring precipitation and temperature, and 1000 places measuring flooding and drought, with the average station being in existence 50 years, you will on average have 160 new daily records every single day!