Jo Weingarten Golub’s Post

BBC article on high number of overwintering "zombie" fires -- "...The Fort Nelson smoke is the result of zombie fires - also called overwintering fires. They are flameless smoulders that burn slowly below the surface, and are kept alive thanks to an organic soil called peat moss common in North America's boreal forest and to thick layers of snow that insulate them from the cold. These fires are not unusual. In the past 10 years, British Columbia has, on average, seen five or six that continue to burn during the cold months, experts say. But in January, the province saw an unprecedented peak of 106 active zombie fires, raising concern among fire scientists about what these smoulders will mean for the upcoming wildfire season. Most typically go out on their own before the spring, but 91 are still burning in BC, according to provincial data, and those that are not extinguished by March could reignite once the snow melts and they are exposed to air. Because of this, scientists have linked them to early starts of wildfire seasons..." https://lnkd.in/guPnhSJS

Fire season is here. We'll see how CA IOU utilities' much vaunted and very, very expensive wildfire mitigation measures limit new ignitions from electrical infrastructure. Today's NYT article uses a phrase I've seen often in the discussion of CA wildfires----luck. "In California, 2022 and 2023 were mild fire years, for a welcome change. Wildland fires burned roughly 325,000 acres and damaged 70 buildings across the state in 2023; two years earlier, the acreage figure was nearly eight times as high — more than 2.5 million in all — and 3,500 structures were damaged. California was lucky last year, with an exceptionally wet winter followed by an unusually cool summer. Then the remnants of Hurricane Hilary dumped so much rain on Southern California in August that it effectively ended the fire season when it ordinarily would be peaking. That’s unlikely to happen this year." #wildfires #california #electricalinfrastructure #electricutilities https://lnkd.in/gjQmzc9b https://lnkd.in/gTrgtVcA

Only months after a record-breaking year that burned nearly 48 million acres of forest across the country, fire crews in Canada are already on high alert for the coming 2024 wildfire season!       Forecasts suggest that there could be even more wildfires in 2024, especially in British Columbia and Alberta. In these 2 provinces, 150 fires that started during last year’s season are still burning this winter under snow-covered ground.      So-called “zombie fires” although an annual phenomenon, have sparked media interest due to the high number of reports this winter.       Read our article to learn more about “zombie fires” and how you can proactively prepare for wildfire season. #BFLRealty #wildfireseason #zombiefires #canada #britishcolumbia #alberta

Does wildfire need to have a season? You might think so as the wildfire count rises again this summer with nearly 1,270 fires burning in Oregon alone, totaling more than 1.25 million acres--and it’s only August. Toxic smoke fills the air making it difficult for even the most healthy among us to breathe, and thousands have been evacuated or wait nervously under Level 1 or 2 notifications, while thousands of firefighters risk their lives, bravely working day and night to keep the flames at bay. What if it doesn’t have to be this way? The era has arrived to ACTIVATE active management including thinning & controlled burning at the pace, scale, and scope needed to increase fire- and climate-resilience on our public lands.  Let's restore balance to our federal forest ecosystems and return summer to a season of mostly blue skies. Want to Learn More? Visit us @ forestbridges.org #togetherwecancleartheair

Badwater Basin, the bottom of Death Valley, is the lowest point in the western hemisphere. Much like the shores of the Dead Sea, you can feel the heaviness of the salty and humid air when water is present. The coastal ranges, Sierras and Panamints typically strip all the water from the air leaving nothing for Death Valley when weather fronts cross it typically from the north and west. Only plumes of moistures from the south, via the Pineapple Express or freakish tropical storms like Hilary, avoid these mountain ranges, on a north-south axis, and allow water vapor into it. It is not unusual for it to get zero rain in a calendar year. Death Valley is remarkably north and far from the equator to be so hot. However, it is almost perfectly aligned with the sun at its peak in summer and the long days of the season allows punishing heat to build and be pushed down the mountain slopes from the higher altitude cooler air above the mountains to create the furnace like effect for which it is famous. Pasty Europeans love crawling in ovens and it is why they have to close roads in summer, the only National Park to do so, since there's always a few who become well-baked, permanently, as result. I'd spend more time there if I didn't keep retrieving injured and near-death monkeys every time I go. Other people get paid for such things. https://lnkd.in/g_bMVPtt

The hard truth about wildfires is that no one is immune to them. After three decades in wildfire management, I've learned that complacency is our greatest enemy. The belief that anyone is safe from wildfires is a dangerous illusion. Why you're not immune to wildfires: 1. Hot weather patterns and fuel buildups impact all fire-prone areas 2. Urban sprawl increases wildland-urban interface risks 3. Embers can travel miles from the fire front 4. Drought conditions create tinderbox environments 5. Infrastructure failures can spark fires anywhere 6. Historical fire patterns are no longer reliable predictors 7. Smoke impacts our entire planet 8. The financial burden is national if not global 9. Water sheds are impacted for decades  10.  Fire does not abide by jurisdictional boundaries 11.  Wildfire is not just about burning wildlands, it’s about burning anything in its path The question isn't if you'll be affected, but how prepared you'll be when it happens. Wildfire preparedness is no longer optional. It's a necessity for everyone. Are you ready to face the reality of wildfire risk? 

This week’s broiling heatwave in the south-southwest of the US is just the start of what experts warn will be a hot summer. It will set the stage for an active wildfire season—even in places that don’t burn often. The US fire season is heating up. Are we in for severe blazes and burns? Thanks to a wet winter, the dangers could be delayed in many fire-prone regions across the West, including in California forests, where the threats from catastrophic blazes are often high. But the extra rainfall also helped seed invasive grasses that spread across sparse arid landscapes and rapidly dried as temperatures rose. These parched plants are already fueling the fire. Even after a cool spring, flames ripped through the yellowing hillsides east of the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this week, a worrying sign of how quickly conditions can change. Fire season is already in full swing in the southwest and Great Basin region, which includes most of Nevada and areas of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and California. https://bityl.co/QV3D

This week’s broiling heatwave in the south-southwest of the US is just the start of what experts warn will be a hot summer. It will set the stage for an active wildfire season—even in places that don’t burn often. The US fire season is heating up. Are we in for severe blazes and burns? Thanks to a wet winter, the dangers could be delayed in many fire-prone regions across the West, including in California forests, where the threats from catastrophic blazes are often high. But the extra rainfall also helped seed invasive grasses that spread across sparse arid landscapes and rapidly dried as temperatures rose. These parched plants are already fueling the fire. Even after a cool spring, flames ripped through the yellowing hillsides east of the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this week, a worrying sign of how quickly conditions can change. Fire season is already in full swing in the southwest and Great Basin region, which includes most of Nevada and areas of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and California. https://bityl.co/QV3D

Remarks by President Biden on Extreme Weather: Last year, the largest weather-related disasters cost over — get this — $90 billion in damages in America — $90 billion in damages. That’s the cost so far — last — last year. They drove nearly 2.5 million people out of their homes, from Hawaii to Vermont. These events also pose serious threats to our nation’s transportation system, to our power grid, farms, fisheries, and forests — in each case costing lives and costing money. And the impacts we’re seeing are only going to get worse, get more frequent and more ferocious, hitting our most vulnerable people in the most hardest-hit communities in the world. Look, you know, we can change all that. It’s within our power. https://lnkd.in/d5wuszjc