Climate change: Correlation between wildfires, flooding in Nova Scotia | 24CA News
The fingerprints of local weather change are everywhere in the supercharged climate witnessed this yr in Nova Scotia — and the remainder of the nation — from raging wildfires to devastating flooding.
A collection of punishing thunderstorms dumped as much as 250 millimetres of rain on Nova Scotia this weekend, killing not less than two folks and damaging infrastructure throughout the province.
About two months in the past, practically 250 sq. kilometres of land was scorched by report wildfires. The province can also be experiencing summer time temperatures which are hotter than typical.
There is a correlation between rising temperatures, wildfires and heavier rainfall, stated Kent Moore, an atmospheric physics professor on the University of Toronto.
Rising temperatures result in drier circumstances, rising the danger of wildfires, he stated, however the hotter climate additionally augments the ambiance’s skill to carry moisture, resulting in heavier downpours that may trigger flooding.
Four folks, together with two youngsters, had been reported lacking Saturday when the 2 automobiles they had been travelling in had been submerged in water northwest of Halifax. RCMP on Monday stated they recovered the physique of a 52-year-old man from Windsor, N.S., in the principle search space northwest of Halifax, whereas the second particular person’s stays had been discovered “by civilians” on shore in a tidal space within the neighbouring county.
The heavy rain left behind a path of 25 broken or destroyed bridges, and about 50 wrecked roads.
Nova Scotia is about two levels hotter than typical for this time of the yr, Moore stated. And as Nova Scotia and the remainder of the planet warmth up, the ambiance’s skill to carry water vapour will increase, he added.
“Water vapour is what produces clouds, and in addition produces rain. It is like an engine for climate.’
The final time Nova Scotia bought greater than 250 mm of rain — 296 mm fell on Aug. 15-16, 1971 — hurricane Beth hit the province. But Nova Scotia may not have to attend one other 50 years for the same climate occasion, Moore stated, as excessive climate turns into extra frequent.
“Scientists have predicted for many, many years that as we continue to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, we’re going to see a warming, and that will probably lead to more extreme conditions,” he stated.
“When we talk about global warming, the impacts of that changing or increasing temperature, is we’re going to see more fluctuations, we’re going to see extreme events — extreme dry events, and also extreme rain events. And that’s what Nova Scotia has seen so far this year.”
A destroyed automotive and residential are seen on Carmel Crescent following the wildfire in Hammonds Plains, N.S. Tuesday June 6, 2023.
POOL/Halifax Chronicle Herald-Tim Krochak
Each of the climate occasions — wildfires, warmth and floods — is uncommon and every doesn’t essentially comply with the opposite, stated John Clague, a professor of geosciences at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, B.C.
“But our changing climate is having an impact on all of them,” he stated.
“You begin to see the picture emerging that our changing climate is playing a role in the number and severity of these events. It’s getting increasingly hard to deny that’s happening.”
Joseph Desloges, a professor at University of Toronto’s earth sciences division, stated the planet is on monitor to report one of many hottest years since scientists began documenting temperatures.
“Don’t be mistaken,” he stated. “There have been heat waves before throughout history, but it’s the persistence and the extreme nature of some of these that is concerning.”
While local weather change will convey a couple of extra “energetic atmosphere,” he stated, this yr is seeing a double whammy with El Nino — characterised by hotter temperatures and wetter circumstances — and world warming, making the climate occasions drastic.
Clague stated hotter oceans are implicated within the extreme rain, from post-tropical storm Fiona, which hit the Maritimes in September 2022, to flooding over the weekend.
“We’ve always had storms that come in from the Atlantic and the Pacific,” he stated.
“But if the air is warmer, it can hold more moisture. When those moisture-laden air masses reach the coastline, they’re going to dump more rain and you’re going to have a greater likelihood of more severe flooding than you would otherwise.”
Moore stated each a part of Canada is experiencing its personal excessive climate situation proper now, from record-high temperatures to wildfires, to rainfall. Montreal noticed flooding from heavy rain about two weeks in the past, and wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta have been deadly for firefighters, with smoke from the blazes reaching elements of the United States.
“The whole point is that the climate is warming up. The individual manifestations of that will be different,” Moore stated. “But, all parts of the country are experiencing extreme events.”
Just as elements of Canada are seeing excessive climate this yr, so is the world, he stated. Heavy downpours together with lethal flooding hit elements of the United States, South Korea, India, Japan, China and Turkey. Greece is seeing devastating wildfires, whereas elements of Europe are experiencing a few of the hottest temperatures they’ve ever had.
Canada and 196 different international locations agreed to set nationwide targets to chop greenhouse gasoline emissions to stop the planet from warming up greater than two levels Celsius on common in contrast with pre-industrial ranges within the 2015 Paris accord. Scientists the world over warned of maximum climate as world temperatures rise greater than 1.5 levels Celsius, Moore stated.
“We’re below 1.5 C and we’re seeing these extreme events. What happens at 1.5 or two degrees?” he stated. “That’s what we need to be really concerned about.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed July 25, 2023.
— With information from The Associated Press.
