Officials declare state of emergency as gargantuan fires blaze across vast area: 'We have fires in every region'
Massive wildfires have forced thousands of Manitoba residents from their homes and led to the Canadian province being put under a state of emergency.
What's happening?
For roughly two months, Manitoba has been battling huge wildfires. The early fire season started in late May, as The Guardian reported, with tens of thousands of people having to be airlifted out of wildfire zones.
Just at that time, the blazes had already burned nearly a half-million acres — roughly three times the province's yearly average — and led to the first state of emergency.
Another state of emergency was announced on July 10 as more wildfires surged. As of July 21, CBC News reports, the province had 120 active fires, with 331 having been discovered in total during the fire season. The number of acres burned had increased to 3.2 million. And as of early August, there are nearly 130 active wildfires in Manitoba, with outdoor events frequently being canceled during what Global News has called the region's "summer of smoke filled with toxins."
"This is the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most people's living memory," Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said in a May press conference, per The Guardian. "For the first time, it's not a fire in one region, we have fires in every region.
"That is a sign of a changing climate that we are going to have to adapt to."
Why are wildfires important?
The change that Kinew referred to is a warming planet. Last year was the warmest in Earth's recorded history, a record that will likely be broken in the next few years.
This temperature hike, scientists agree, is human-caused, as the burning of dirty fuels causes toxic gases to be released into the atmosphere, trapping our planet's heat.
This change also leads to extreme weather events, including wildfires, happening more frequently and with more severity. In Canada, officials have noted that the fire season is starting earlier and lasting longer than ever before.
These effects are being seen far outside of Canada. In recent years, wildfires have spiked by 150% in the Amazon. And experts note that some fires have become so large, they've created their own "fire weather."
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What's being done about wildfires?
Even in difficult times, some people are able to use their knowledge and ingenuity to come up with helpful solutions.
For instance, one Canadian college student whose family lives in Manitoba created an interactive map that helps communities track the fires and find nonprofits to help those affected.
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
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