[andyt]

Thanos Thanos:

Maybe this is or isn't associated with climate change or an especially perverse El Nino effect but there's no way that it doesn't contribute to making that forest extra-dry for a potential conflagration.

That's the whole point. And I think this particular fire, and all the fires we're fighting in BC right now, is more about El Nino. But the steadily increasing rate of fires, and events like the pine beetle outbreak have more to do with a climate that is warming.

[andyt]

For Alberta Redneck:

$1:

While the oilsands plants themselves are not at risk at this moment, production has not just slowed down, but in some cases has stopped because the plants can't operate at full capacity without staff. The entire population of Fort McMurray has been evacuated, thousands of homes have been lost and it's unclear when the city will be habitable again.

"But not because it's at risk," said Pickering, "but because of the people issue. Of course, they're being sensitive to their employees and family issues."

"Let's play that out, if Shell takes out a couple hundred thousand barrels a day, if Suncor does the same, all of a sudden you've got 500,000 barrels a day that's off the market."

The market is now estimating that between 600,00 and 800,000 barrels are off-line. World oil production is around 96 million barrels a day, and is oversupplied by approximately one million barrels a day, with lots of oil in tanks, so even if oilsands production slows in the short term, it will not have an effect on the world price in the long term.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/f ... -1.3566457

of course this is the lying CBC, you won't believe it til you read it in the Sun and it's blamed on Notley.

[andyt]

And to quote May directly:

$1:

"Of course," Elizabeth May said Wednesday when asked if there was anything about the fire that is linked to global warming. "The temperature records were being smashed through last month for northern Alberta," she said, while noting that no single event is caused by climate change alone. "It's due to global emissions.

"Scientists will say we know with a destabilized climate, with a higher average global temperature, we will see more frequent, more extreme weather events ... due to an erratic climate, due to our addiction to fossil fuels."

Later, in a statement sent to reporters, May said she wasn't directly tying the Fort McMurray wildfire to climate change. "No credible climate scientist would make this claim, and neither do I make this claim," she said, while urging Canadians to take collective action to mitigate the impact of "extreme climate events."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/elizabe ... -1.3566126

Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

[Thanos]

Anyone know if pollen is flammable? Because this is the time of the year, especially when it gets that dry, where the wind blasts the pollen off those conifers and makes it look like a yellow dust cloud ripping through the air. I ask this because I saw a couple of videos where someone shot some sawdust into the air with an air compressor and ignited it and it was like a spontaneous ball of flame erupting in mid-air. Pollen might be a million times finer than sawdust particles but if it can ignite in the same way it'll make those fires that much worse by providing a constant spreading ignition factor, especially if it's a concentrated effect with hundreds of thousands of trees all shedding it at the same time.

[ShepherdsDog]

seems to be

[andyt]

$1:

I found that pollen is roughly as flammable as sawdust, perhaps a bit more. Here are the videos:

http://sciencejon.blogspot.ca/2014/06/i ... mable.html


But that was in a pile. I doubt if pollen is a major propagator of forest fires. But the dry duff layer is, that's where forest fires start. So embers from a fire land on the duff and whoosh, especially when the air has been as dry as it has been around Ft Mac.

[andyt]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

seems to be

That is cottenwood fluff, not pollen. Ie seeds.

[BartSimpson]

Amazing that no one has died in this. Amazing.

[andyt]

They have their act together. No panicking for the most part, the cops etc are doing a good job organizing the evacuations and remaining in place to help everybody else get out.

[DrCaleb]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Amazing that no one has died in this. Amazing.

If you watch any of the videos, you'll notice one thing - no horn honking!

I think that's amazing. When faced with imminent immolation, Canadians are still too polite to give a 'GTFO of my way' honk.

[Strutz]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Amazing that no one has died in this. Amazing.

It is isn't it? It seems everyone listened when told they had to go.

It may take some time to get everyone accounted for though, especially when some have had to evacuate areas they initially fled to.

[andyt]

I heard people were letting each in line and generally cooperating. I think it's more than politeness, I think it shows a cohesive community. People know each other, there's no extremes of wealth and poverty, probably racially very monotone. If this was a big city, even in Canada, likely be a whole different thing. But still, we trust our authorities more than Americans do, are more willing to take orders from them, and aren't running around with guns trying to push our own way. Just more of a commutarian rather than individualist outlook.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Near the airport, the Nova Hotel, an ATCO Gas building, a maintenance shop, and portions of the airport fire hall were destroyed by the flames, Transport Canada confirmed Thursday morning.

The fire continues to burn on the north side of the airport property and is moving east, and smoke is now covering the airfield. Fuel tanks have been watered down as a precaution should fire reach the area.

Though the main terminal remains fully operational, no flights are going in or out.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ ... -1.3568035

Damn.

[DrCaleb]

$1:

Homes in the north part of the Abasand neighbourhood, just west of downtown, are now on fire, according to municipal officials. Fire crews are reporting significant damage in the Prospect Drive area in the northeast end of the Timberlea neighbourhood, but crews stopped the fire from crossing Confederation Way into Eagle Ridge.

Serious damage has been reported around the Old Airport Road.

Double damn. Odds are both places I used to live are gone. That only leaves 'Syncrude towers' and that place should have burned years ago!

[bootlegga]

BRAH BRAH:

Un Fucking Believable!

There is a special place in Hell for people who use disasters to push their political agendas.