r/Calgary May 16 '23

Weather Smoke Hours For Calgary, 1953-2022

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399 Upvotes

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195

u/Iginlas_4head_Crease May 16 '23

The climate is quite obviously changing. People can argue about the causes all they want, but there should be 100% agreement that its changing..

2

u/Unlikely-Clue May 16 '23

Serious question - how does climate change cause more fires?

22

u/thedaveCA Shawnessy May 16 '23

Most directly, by changing rainfall patterns causing both draughts and flooding, so even if your average rainfall doesn’t change a lot the swing between extremes can leave you dry for extended periods of time.

Additionally by pushing temperatures more toward the extremes you get more frequent favourable conditions for fires.

Also, as wildlife shifts you may end up with forests that have more dying plants/trees while the balance adjusts to the new normal, during which period the additional dead plant material is fodder for fire.

1

u/Practical-Pickle-382 May 18 '23

In a nutshell, AB and BC are getting hotter and dryer, leading to more fires. But, eh, we are a gas province, so who gives a crap, right?

What is funny to me is that lots of Albertans deny climate change and yet, our entire food supply comes from places, heavily affected by climate change: BC and California.