Running parallel to the discussion Ilan began on whether the evacuation of Fort McMurray is a wildfire DRR success, I'd like to stimulate further discussion about the physical background and what it might tell us about maldevelopment and climate change. In a recent CBC article a fire expert states 'This is an extreme, rare, rare fire event.' But the question is whether this could become the new normal. See http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fort-mcmurry-wildfire-funding-1.3570772 and scroll down to section, "Could Wildfire Have Been Slowed?" and a comparison of the 2011 Slave Lake fire and this one.

(Also then scroll back up because the fact that some people have ignored the mandatory evacuation order is also important to ponder!)

-----Original Message-----
From: KristinaPeterson RichardKrajeski <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: May 6, 2016 9:34 PM
To: Ben Wisner <[log in to unmask]>, "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: RE: Canadian wild fire -- the physical background

Thank you Ben for getting to the core issue. How are
we altering the conditions that lead to the impacts we are
experiencing. The tar-sands are creating a horrific set
of conditions that is both a environmental and health disaster
and it will create more as the run off kills water systems and
the oil transported seeps into the environment from each
method of transport.

K. Peterson

Lowlander Center
Supporting Lowland People and Places through
Education, Advocacy and applied Research
www.lowlandercenter.org
304-266-2517

> Date: Fri, 6 May 2016 21:27:12 -0400
> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Canadian wild fire -- the physical background
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
> The last few days RADIX has hosted a very good discussion of the fire in Alberta, evacuation efforts, long term social and economic consequences, and the irony that the Alberta tar sand industry at the center of this affected zone is fueling the very climate changes that may well have a role in conditions that have triggered this massive fire.
>
> Here is a discussion of those physical background conditions: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36212145.
>
> All the best,
>
> BEN
>
> Dr. Ben Wisner
> Aon-Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, University College London, UK
> & Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
> & Environmental Studies Program, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, USA
>
> "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

<[log in to unmask]><[log in to unmask]><[log in to unmask]>

Dr. Ben Wisner
Aon-Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, University College London, UK
& Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania
& Environmental Studies Program, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, USA

"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."