With Alberta experiencing one of the worse ever wildfire seasons, and parts of eastern Canada also seeing massive fires in recent weeks, the crisis will hopefully prompt government action to prevent or at least reduce the severity of similar fires in the future.
Whether the provincial government in particular is prepared, or even capable, of addressing the situation over the long-term remains an open question.
What is known is that the wildfires on the scale being seen in Alberta this year have significant impacts, including as it relates to the physical health of residents. And of course the millions and millions of dollars being spent to fight the fires is also of interest to all Albertans.
A big part of addressing the complex challenge of wildfires revolves around whether climate change is or is not at the root of the situation.
In a provincial radio interview last week, Premier Danielle Smith said she believes arson may be playing a role in fuelling the current crisis.
“We are bringing in arson investigators from outside the province,” Smith said. “We have almost 175 fires with no known cause at the moment. Sometimes they are very easy to trace — when you have lightning storms, it’s easy to trace. When you have a train derailment, that’s easy to trace.”
Some scientists in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere say climate change is certainly a major driver of the current wildfire crisis.
For example, fire research scientist Xianli Wang, with the Canadian Forest Service, reportedly said, “It creates longer drought spells in the fire season, and also fire season is going to start early and end late.
“It is just not a random thing. Climate change is playing a major role to make it happen.”
With the current wildlife crisis sure to continue well into the summer months, it is in everyone’s interest that short- and long-term solutions be found.
Whether the ongoing climate change debate will prompt or interfere with finding those solutions remains to be seen.
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
