It’s too easy to ignore problems until they end up in our backyard.
In the past few weeks, Albertans have had their backyards hit hard by devastating wildfires that have engulfed many people’s homes and livelihoods.
It’s hard to turn a blind eye to such epic events!
The specific causes behind each wildfire vary, but one undeniable thing is that high temperatures, drought conditions, and intense storms fuel many wildfires into raging monsters.
Albertans had hoped that the late and relatively wet spring of 2024 would help protect us from the carnage our forests saw last year when over a record 2.2 million hectares were burned… but Alberta is on fire again this year.
Northeast Alberta and, of course, Jasper National Park have been especially hard hit. Over 32,000 hectares of the park have burned, and nearly 30% of the town has been lost.
As of August 1, 116 wildfires were burning across the province, and the number is expected to increase this week with hot weather returning. The vast majority of these wildfires were ignited by lightning.
It’s easy to attribute the recent wildfire surge to “a few errant hot years.”
However, the trend of increasing temperatures is a global phenomenon.
With each passing year, average global temperatures surge to new heights, and so far, 2024 has been the hottest on record.
Records Broken Almost Daily
According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, July 22nd marked the hottest day, with the global average surface air temperature reaching 17.15 degrees.
This record-breaking heat came just one day after a previous record of 17.09 degrees, highlighting the rapidly intensifying change we are facing.
“What is truly staggering is how large the difference is between the temperature of the last 13 months and the previous temperature records,” Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo said in a statement.
“We are now in truly uncharted territory, and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years.”
In Alberta, this pattern of escalating heat has manifested in severe and devastating ways. A significant heatwave has scorched the province, and is bracing for another onslaught.
Scientists warn that human-induced greenhouse gas emissions accelerate climate change, leading to more frequent and severe heatwaves, intensified storm systems, and prolonged droughts.
Increasing by Leaps
The Copernicus data highlights a stark reality: the global average surface temperature is not just inching upwards but is undergoing dramatic increases that defy previous records.
Some people quickly point out that we should say, “The hottest day on earth since records have been taken.”
Amber Bracken Pool | Reuters
They are right, but while temperature records in some form have been kept for thousands of years, modern, systematic, and globally consistent record-keeping began in 1880. So, the trend is alarming.
The spiking temperature records reflect a broader trend of climate instability, which is posing big problems for people and the places we live in.
As the world keeps getting hotter and the fires in Alberta keep burning, it’s clear that we need to take big steps right away to fight the changes happening to our weather.
As Aly Hyder Ali, oil and gas program manager at Environmental Defence Canada, put it to Global News:
“We need all levels of government to plan for phasing out fossil fuels, which are causing the climate crisis and associated heat waves, floods, wildfires and other climate disasters.”
The situation in Alberta and the global temperature records are not isolated incidents but indicators of a more significant, urgent issue that demands immediate and sustained action from policymakers, scientists, and communities.
Much like a devastating wildfire, it’s not something we can afford to ignore.
How many more towns like Jasper need to burn before we collectively take action?
