To: Wharf Rat who wrote (933444 ) 5/4/2016 11:14:47 PM From: Wharf Rat Respond to Wildfire Rips Through Canadian City, Forcing 80,000 to Flee. This Is Climate ChangeEric Holthaus mandatory evacuation from a fire in provincial history . More than 80,000 people left their homes according to official estimates. In a worst-case scenario, a large portion of the city could burn, officials said on Wednesday.told the CBC , “I would say it’s been the worst day of my career. The people here are devastated. … We’ve had a devastating day. Fort McMurray has been overrun by wildfire.” Fire officials say it may already rank as one of the most destructive disasters in Canadian history.A gas station blew up . Radio stations were abandoned . Buildings burned . The first video below is especially disturbing, as a surge in flames prompts a sobbing evacuee to cry out:...is certain is that this fire has a clear link to climate change. Canada’s northern forests have been burning more frequently over recent decades as temperatures there are rising at twice the rate of the global average. A 2013 analysis showed that the boreal forests of Alaska and northern Canada are now burning at a rate unseen in at least the past 10,000 years. The extreme weather of recent months is also closely linked with the ongoing record-setting El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean, which tends to bring a warmer and drier winter to this part of Canada. Last month, Canadian officials mentioned the possibility of “large fires” after over-winter snowpack was 60 to 85 percent below normal and drought conditions worsened.atmospheric blocking pattern —a semi-stable extreme arrangement of the jet stream—reinforced an unseasonable heat wave and helped temperatures reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday in Fort McMurray, 40 degrees Fahrenheit above normal , eight degrees above the daily record high, 15 degrees warmer than Houston, and the same temperature as Miami. While fleeing, some evacuees had to turn on their air conditioners .slate.com
