The information in the longer explainer video is accurate as of the time of recording (May 13, 2023). Please go to Alberta Emergency Alert for updates:
https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-emergency-alert.aspx
May is wildfire season in Alberta, but every year people in the media seem astonished that this is so. There is a short video overview, or the longer explainer video and power point if you scroll down.
Wildfires Happen in May – short video overview:
The immediate assumption of media reporters and climate activists is that it is ‘too early’ for wildfires so it must be ‘climate change.’ This is not true and this video will explain why. May wildfires occur in that interval between snow melt and spring rain. April was a very dry month in Alberta with little precipitation. Likewise, due to three consecutive years of La Nina conditions, the prairies are extremely dry. These are natural conditions unrelated to human-caused climate change. This video explainer discusses some facts and statistics on wildfires, as well as questioning the media’s drive to hype wildfires as ‘climate change’ and to amplify anxiety in young people, rather than presenting information that would calm people down and be pro-active in reducing wildfire risk. The MPA – or Mobile Polar Anti-cyclone – is a large scale weather phenomenon which is affecting the May 2023 high temperatures and wind direction in Alberta. A fuller discussion of the science behind and MPA is found in our 2022 presentation which discusses the alleged “Heat Dome” over southern BC and Alberta of 2021.
Power point of presentation:
This presentation references some historic wildfires like that of 1910, when Alberta’s population was only 150,000 people and we had only been a province for 5 years. Also the Chinchaga Firestorm of 1950 which was so huge, its smoke pall went round the world turning the Sun and Moon blue, and terrifying people. Alberta and BC have an additional wildfire challenge today as there is a lot of standing deadwood, the result of the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation.
Source: Natural Resources Canada – Mountain Pine Beetle
In the video, we question why the media focusses on the fears of young Sadie Vipond (who is part of a law suit against the federal government on climate change). We point out that CAPE (Canadian Assoc. of Physicians for the Environment) and Dr. Joe Vipond’s activism (her father) was largely responsible for Alberta coal phase-out. This has led to 7 Grid level 3 alerts last year in Alberta (imminent rolling brownouts/blackouts) because we are now short of 1,000 MW of dispatchable electrical power generation. The pool price has tripled, thanks to coal phase-out. This is evidence that listening to climate activists is not the best way to set energy, wildfire, or climate policies. This explainer also shows the many aspects of human-caused wildfires. Though arson is a component, the human-wildland interface is quite broad and many factors are at play. Therefore, if people were more careful and aware of FireSmart (FireWise USA) principles, it could help reduce wildfires and mitigate risk.
The present extreme fire risk will likely be with Alberta for the next week or so, therefore it is recommended by the Alberta government that citizens have a 72 hr emergency kit prepared and on standby. This is something you can do at home.
As always, if you’d like to support our work, we would appreciate your help, but in these times, you may prefer to help the evacuees. For information for wildfire updates, info for evacuees or how to donate, see this website: https://www.alberta.ca/emergency.aspx
Leave a Reply! Please be courteous and respectful; profanity will not be tolerated.