Ok, I can get sort of disagreeing the wildfires are from climate change - that’s a couple of logical steps you have to make. But “It’s not causing anyone to cough” is plainly ludicrous. It was making me cough when I went outside.
“It doesn’t smell bad”? Maybe they have COVID and lost their sense of smell altogether? It certainly smelled bad to me. And if you thought it smelled great - wow. I just don’t ever want to be around you if you like those sorts of smells. I can’t see it actually working with anyone who’s ever been in wildfire smoke before - like you don’t need science or education or anything to notice if it makes you cough, or tell something doesn’t smell great.
Canada has an absolutely massive forest service as well as an insanely large forestry industry overall. They’re better equipped to deal with this sort of thing than pretty much anyone else in the world. Once you reach this magnitude of crown fire there’s really very little you can do.
They’ll spend millions of dollars dumping water from choppers and planes, pushing in firebreaks that won’t hold it - there’s really nothing left to do at this stage but get out of the way. You can’t hose a crown fire out, people on the ground are just risking their lives.
Firebreaks are ineffective because this thing is causing spotfires miles and miles ahead of the front.
Are we ready to take climate change seriously? If not, this is your life every summer from now on.
Signed, a wildland firefighter and forest worker from Australia.
I’ve heard that the fires down under are pretty bad too. my condolences.