The smoke has slowly been trickling into the neighbourhood over the past few weeks. Today, however, looking out the window felt as though I was staring into the apocalypse. The sky was burnt yellow and hung thick with smoke. Environment Canada has issued air quality advisories and broadcasts are encouraging residents to stay indoors and not to engage in physical activity outside.
This is looking out the backyard of our current residence at 7:52 in the morning, sunrise was at 6:15. The photo doesn't do this apocalyptic scene justice as the sky was dark and yellow.
Where is the smoke coming from?
Reports indicate that there are currently over 560 fires in British Columbia, our neighbouring province to the west. Beautiful B.C. has declared a state of emergency with their wildlife service responding to upwards of 1,823 wildfires which is substantially higher than last years total of 1,216. Source
If you're unfamiliar with the Canadian provinces, central B.C. is over 1000kms (620+ miles) away from where we currently reside. That's a long way for smoke to travel.
Why the increase in wild fires?
There are a few theories as to why the number of wild fires has begun to climb despite our increased ability to squash them out faster and more effectively. But, as the saying goes, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Logging
Lodgepole pines are a popular tree for logging. Their ability to grow in a vast array of soils and climate conditions coupled with their extremely straight trunks make them ideal for lumber. In 1994 the B.C. government introduced the Forest Renewal Plan Act to be environmentally responsible for logging large areas. While the harvest trees are replanted there are a whole host of other plant life that remain removed and forgotten.
Humans often forget about the intricacies of the ecosystem and how varied plant life interacts. We assume that replanting what we took is enough but forget how the ecosystem will shift and change throughout the period it will take for those trees to regrow.
But human intervention in the last century has disrupted the natural fire regime of the Ponderosa pine forests. By grazing livestock, logging the trees for timber and systematically fighting fires before they can run their course, humans have changed the structure of the ecosystem and encouraged a build-up of forest-floor vegetation.
As a consequence, when fires do now occur in these forests, they are high-intensity and their flames reach into the canopy.
As a result, these areas become monocultured and leave the forest floors devoid of healthy, moist undergrowth. The layers of the forest become stripped leaving the areas drier and more vulnerable to fires.
Forestry in British Columbia, Canada
Matthew took this photo shortly after sunrise. Visibility was low due to the thick smoke.
Mountain Pine Beetles
These tiny critters have wreaked havoc across the British Columbia landscape. These beetles are naturally occurring in the Rocky Mountain ecosystem, however, their numbers which are normally controlled by frigid temperatures began to climb after several warm winters in the late 90's.
The result meant not only the loss of millions of trees across the landscape but an increase of standing deadwood as well. Some environmentalists recommend that the dead wood remain as habitat for wildlife, ignoring the need for a healthy balance of wet material. With ignition materials piling up, these areas are at increased risk for wild fires.
By the afternoon, nothing had cleared. The smoke felt thick and heavy. I can't imagine what the air quality in BC is at the moment.
Fire Suppression
While protecting the environment is a high priority, human habitat is higher on the list. During the last hundred years putting out small fires has become the norm as a way to protect human lives and property. However, fires serve a multitude of purposes, including encouraging the growth of new plant life. Historically, forest fires were more frequent and would burn mainly on the forest floor leaving the larger trees with minimal damage.
As we've become more efficient at putting fires out the plant mix in our forests understory has changed dramatically and more dry material has built up. This leads to much hotter and larger fires that are harder to suppress.