The climate-driven wildfires currently razing Canada’s northern forests and darkening skies across the continent may have an unexpected effect: according to a new study, the fires may reduce global warming and sea ice melt in the Arctic.
The rising impact of blazes in Canada and Siberia’s boreal regions over the next 35 years will slow warming by 12 per cent globally and 38 per cent in the Arctic, according to recent climate modelling research at the University of Washington (UW). But the study’s authors warn that while the study may sound positive, it’s just one part of a trend that overall spells major trouble for northern ecosystems.
Matt Simmons – The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
A cold spring rain spatters the deck outside a small coffee shop in Smithers, B.C., as Kevin Kriese explains why he believes people need to change how they think about wildfire.
A former assistant deputy minister with the provincial government and recently retired chair of the B.C. Forest Practices Board, Kriese is now a senior wildfire analyst with the POLIS wildfire resilience project. He’s tall and athletic (an avid skier) and a passionate advocate for land-based solutions to ecological challenges. He speaks with the confidence of someone who has spent his entire career navigating seemingly intractable problems — but admits getting people on board with the idea of living with more fire on the land is no easy task.
