MSGID: 1:317/3 64aeea4a   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   July 12, 2023 - More Wildfires Erupt in Western Canada   
      
      Wildfires   
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      Thanks to exceptionally dry and hot weather, the 2023 Canadian wildfire   
      season—which normally runs from April to September—has been a   
      record-maker.   
      
      According to media reports, in early July Canadian officials warned   
      that the country was likely to face a “long, tough summer”—and that   
      prediction seems to already be coming true. A brutal heatwave has   
      gripped parts of the country, bringing temperatures of 100.2˚F (37.9˚C)   
      to the community of Norman Wells, Northwest Territories (NWT) on July   
      9, which is the hottest temperature ever measured north of 65˚N   
      latitude in the Western Hemisphere. It was just short of the record of   
      100.4˚F (38˚C) set at Verkhoyansk, Russia, a village at a similar   
      latitude in June 2020. This is very close to the Arctic Circle, which   
      sits at approximately 66.5˚N latitude.   
      
      The scorching temperatures across northwestern and western Canada have   
      increased fire danger so much that the Canadian forests have nearly   
      become little more than tinder-boxes just waiting for ignition. When   
      storms rolled over western Canada on July 7 and 9, there were more than   
      23,000 lightning strikes recorded in British Columbia alone, and these   
      sparked more than 200 new wildfires according to BC Wildfire Service.   
      Because fuel moisture is a key component to how wildfires behave, the   
      exceptionally dry vegetation means not only fast ignition but also   
      increases the risk for rapid spread.   
      
      As of July 11, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC)   
      posted that there were 875 active fires burning across Canada, with 48   
      new starts in the last 24 hours. 533 of these were listed as “out of   
      control”, with 128 “being held”, and 211 classified as “under   
   control”.   
      The largest number of fires were found in the west, with the most fires   
      burning in British Columbia, with Alberta second. The province of   
      Quebec, in eastern Canada, was in third place. The CIFFC also reported   
      that there had been a total of 3,904 wildland fires since January 1,   
      which is well above the average of 2,751. In the same time, 9.5 million   
      hectares have burnt—an area slightly larger than the U.S. state of   
      Indiana and well above the previous record of 7.89 million hectares   
      burnt in 1989.   
      
      The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board   
      NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of wildfires burning   
      across Western Canada on July 10. Each red “hot spot” marks an area of   
      heat from an actively burning fire. Provinces visible in this image,   
      each containing active fires, include (moving from west to east)   
      British Columbia (with the most fires), Alberta, and Saskatchewan. The   
      northern tier includes Yukon and Northwest Territories. Dense smoke   
      smothers much of the region, stretching from Canada’s far north to   
      sweep over the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Aqua   
      Date Acquired: 7/10/2023   
      Resolutions:  1km (2.2 MB),   
      Bands Used: 1,4,3   
      Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC   
      
      
      
   https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-07-12   
       
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