Wednesday September 13, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The continuing drought in BC is “a serious situation” and “a sleeping giant of a natural disaster”.
That was a key message from Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness today from Vancouver. She was participating in an emergency management and wildfire update along with Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston. They were joined virtually on the live call by provincial ministry officials to provide an update about the wildfire and drought situation in the province.
Greater than usual drought conditions started in fall 2022, continued through winter into spring 2023 and have contributed to the extent of the wildfire season in spring and summer 2023 in BC.
Minister Ma and Minister Ralston continued their messages about the importance of conserving water. The challenge to water availability “is not immediately apparent to those who can still turn on the tap” and for whom water has “always been plentiful and available”.
Drought continues on south Vancouver Island this fall, in this region where we have normally experienced and expected wet cool weather. On a Drought Forecast Map by the BC Wildfire Services, as of September 15 the drought potential on south Vancouver Island is extreme.
Calling the new wildfire, drought and overall extreme weather conditions seen in BC this year and in recent years, Ma called this “a new world”, “a new reality”, resulting from the climate crisis.
As part of that ‘new reality’ it was interesting to hear that in some northern areas of BC some of this summer’s wildfires may burn through winter and pop up again in spring.
Fewer lightning-caused fires in fall season:
Over 72% of the more than 2,000 wildfires starts in BC this wildfire season were a result of lightning.
But the number of lightning-caused fires are expected to be lower now in cooler weather with longer nights.
But that means most of the wildfires will be human caused, said Neal McLoughlin of the BC Wildfire Service, saying about 75 to 100 wildfires per month can be expected in September and October.
Autumn is a dry time of year:
Autumn is already a dry time of year, said McLoughlin. He said the normal increase in forest fuel in autumn (i.e. dry grasses, leaves, dead wood on shrubs and trees, etc) will contribute to opportunities for human-caused wildfires to ignite.
Vehicles of any kind should not be parked or started on dry grass.
===== ABOUT THE WRITER:
Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. is the editor and publisher of Island Social Trends.
The Island Social Trends socioeconomic news perspective is applied to: HEALTH & SAFETY | POLITICS | LIVING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
Island Social Trends is a daily news portal at IslandSocialTrends.ca . Premium Subscribers are welcome, as a way to support independent news in Canadian society.
Mary P Brooke was nominated for a Jack Webster Foundation award in 2023 that recognizes the work of a woman journalist as a contribution to her community.
Mary Brooke is now giving presentations to organizations about Urban Food Resilience and also the need for society to continue supporting journalism as a part of democracy.