Achi news desk-
Wildfire season in Alberta and British Columbia is set to start early and the federal government will on Thursday give an update on what the national picture will look like in 2024 after the devastating impact of last year’s fires.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson will hold a joint press conference on Thursday to discuss the wildfire forecast for the season.
Last year, Canadian wildfires burned 18.5 million hectares of land, making it the worst wildfire season on record and surpassing the previous record of 7.6 million hectares burned in 1989.
Those fires fueled nearly a quarter increase in the loss of the world’s tree cover, putting millions of people across Canada and the United States under air quality warnings throughout the summer as the fires raged.
BC and Alberta, where the wildfire season started early, will likely be a key focus. At least one fire was already listed as out of control and continuing to grow in the Quesnel area of ​​BC’s Interior as of last month.
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The BC Wildfire Service reported several wildfires south of Quesnel and east of Vanderhoof as dry conditions helped fuel the fires.
Parts of British Columbia will likely enter “unfamiliar territory” with drought if officials see another hot, dry summer, the head of the province’s River Forecast Center said.
Dave Campbell says ongoing drought conditions in BC stretch back to 2022, so the state is entering this summer with “multi-year” precipitation deficits.
Satellite images show rivers across the province running narrower and shallower than at the same time in 2023, which went on to be one of BC’s driest years on record.
With average snowpack levels at an all-time low in BC this past winter, Campbell says to expect cumulative effects that could include water shortages and other challenges.
“We know that these preconditions we’re entering this year are much more challenging than we started last year,” he said in a recent interview.
– with files from Canadian Press
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
