Increasing wind speeds will stoke more Alberta wildfires
'There's going to be more extreme wind events, like we saw last week,' says University of Alberta expert
Wind speeds in Alberta will become more extreme and stoke more wildfires, says a University of Alberta researcher.
"There's going to be more extreme wind events, like we saw last week," said Mike Flannigan, a University of Alberta professor in the department of renewable resources Tuesday.
"When you have drier fuels and ignition sources that lead to a fire, the faster the wind, the faster the fire spreads."
Fires forced evacuations in a handful of towns near the Alberta-Saskatchewan border on Oct. 17.
Officials say the blazes spread quickly because of strong winds gusting more than 100 km/h.
He says climate change is weakening the jet stream, which is part of the problem.
"Our northern polar regions are warming more rapidly than equatorial areas, so the temperature difference is getting really small, which means you get kind of a stagnant jet stream," said Flannigan.
"So you get more of a stationary pattern rather than a change, or pattern where you get sunny for a few days, then rain for a day or two ... which is often typical of what summers are like."
Deadly wind-stoked fires
Flannigan said "Diablo" winds in California are an example of how devastating wind-fuelled wildfires can be.
More than 40 people died when fires ripped through Santa Rosa and Sonoma County in northern California earlier this month. Those fires caused an estimated $1 billion US in damages.
Researchers in Alberta have noticed an earlier start to the fire season, but late-season burns like we've seen this October aren't unusual.
"Once fall comes and you just have stubble or grass … it burns easily," said Flannigan.
"The warmer it is, the more evaporation we have, so you get drier fuels which means it's easier for fires to start and spread."
Human-caused fires
Flannigan warned that although we can't immediately stop climate change, there are things communities can do right away to mitigate human-caused fires.
He suggests building underground electrical corridors and employing more conscious design where humans and the landscape intersect.
"For grass fires, you just have to plough, turn over the soil and that's a really good fire break for grass fires," said Flannigan.
"We're going to continue to warm for 20, 50, maybe even more years than that. Yes we should reduce greenhouse gas and emissions, and curb greenhouse warming. But there are things we can do today about fire … [such as] reducing human-caused ignitions because those are all preventable fires."