Wildfires approach
Yellowknife residents have been ordered to begin evacuating the city immediately as wildfires approach, N.W.T. officials said Wednesday evening.
While the city is not in immediate danger, Environment Minister Shane Thompson said a “phased approach” to evacuating will allow citizens to get out safely by car or by plane.
People most at risk go now, the rest have until noon tomorrow.
“The fire now represents a real threat to the city,” Thompson said at a news conference Wednesday evening, adding it could reach the outskirts of the city by the weekend. The fire was about 17 kilometres from the city on Wednesday, he said.
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Thompson said Wednesday that the highway from Yellowknife to Alberta is safe to drive. People are being urged to fill up their vehicles before leaving Yellowknife, but he said the Department of Infrastructure will have a tanker full of gas along the route, and tow trucks will also be out in force.
“At Big River [Service Centre], they have informed us they have a lot of gas available and they will have other gas brought in Friday,” said Thompson. Pilot vehicles will also be on the highway to escort evacuees through smoky areas in the fire zone.
“The window of opportunity right now is going to allow us to evacuate everybody safely,” Thompson said, adding, “we need you to do it now,” because the fire threatens both air and road access.
Does that sound terrifying enough yet?
People who cannot leave by road, and residents who are immunocompromised or have other conditions that put them at higher risk, are asked to register for evacuation flights. Air evacuations are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Air evacuees are being advised to go to Sir John Franklin High School in Yellowknife, with standard carry-on baggage only, after 10 a.m. Thursday. Pets will be allowed on commercial carriers, but must be crated. On military aircraft, pets should be crated if possible.
I’m not sure we all fully understood that global warming would be quite this literal.
H/t Your Name’s not Bruce?
I happened to find an old record yesterday, Albedo 0.39 by Vangelis, which was released back in 1976. The title refers to the Earth’s albedo, which is the reflectivity of the planet’s surface. So I thought to check to see if that’s changed. It has, and Earth’s albedo is 0.30 now. Why? It’s due mainly to the shrinking of Arctic ice cover, which being white is highly reflective. There is a strong positive feedback from this that has further increased warming and has set the stage for the massive wildfires in Canada this year, even as far north as Yellowknife.
And its worth remembering that Yellowknife is only about 250 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
The story includes a graphic that shows it ringed by fires.