- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
- China economy hopes boost global equities
'Perfect storm' of heat, dryness fuel western Canada's extreme wildfires
Dry vegetation, record temperatures and powerful winds: this "perfect storm" of weather phenomena fueled the massive forest fires in western Canada's Alberta province this year, according to researchers.
The extent of the fires and their appearance so early in the year illustrate the impacts of climate change, scientists say.
"We've already had 390,000 hectares (963,710 acres) burned. So it's already 10 times the typical fire year and we're really just getting started," said Danielle Smith, premier of Alberta province where a state of emergency was declared.
"It's an extraordinary (and) unprecedented event, which is I think what we have to be prepared for in future," she told reporters on Tuesday.
Around 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes while hundreds of firefighters work to control the flames.
"It is an exceptional year insofar as the accumulation of burned areas is very rapid, as is the number of very large fires at the same time," Yan Boulanger, a specialist in forest fires at the Canadian ministry for natural resources, told AFP.
The vast majority of fires are of human origin, including cigarette butts, campfires that weren't properly snuffed out or sometimes malicious acts, he said.
- 'Dangerous' month of May -
Spring is a risky time for fires in the area, as no snow remains on the ground and it's before plants turn green.
"We end up with very dry undergrowth and trees that are also very flammable, because they have no leaves," said Boulanger, who noted that the conditions in recent weeks "have been very dry."
Terri Lang, a meteorologist for Environment Canada, said that dry conditions make spring a "dangerous time."
In early May, a weather phenomenon set in that "brought really unseasonably hot and dry conditions to the province," Lang told AFP.
A ridge of high pressure pushed aside the precipitation and kept the heat in place, breaking several temperature records in the region.
In the provincial capital of Edmonton, the mercury reached 28.9 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit) on May 1, beating the previous all-time high of 26.7C (80F) set almost a century ago. Farther north, it reached 32.2C (89.9F) in Fort McMurray on Thursday.
Added to this were strong winds fueled by the typical temperature differential between the cold north and the warmer south.
"It was a perfect storm," said Lang.
Boulanger added that "if the conditions remain extreme, it could last for weeks or months."
A previous major fire in 2016 disrupted production in the oil sands region near Fort McMurray, pummelling the nation's economy.
That fire took almost a year to be put out, Boulanger said.
- More common with global warming -
Diana Stralberg, a researcher in Edmonton for the Canadian Forest Service, explained that human-caused climate change is making the fire season longer and causing "extreme fire weather conditions" to occur more often.
"Although fire is a natural, forest-renewing process, more frequent fires, as well as fires followed by droughts, can interrupt regeneration of conifer trees" and lead to a withdrawal of wooded areas in favor of grasslands, the climate specialist told AFP.
Little by little, the forest is being nibbled away, with direct consequences for dozens of species of migratory birds and caribou.
"Modeling of future fire and vegetation conditions has shown that, in Alberta, up to 50 percent of upland boreal forests could be at risk of conversion to grassland systems by the end of the 21st century under high-end warming scenarios," said Stralberg.
More and more fires also lead to the massive emissions of greenhouse gases, further exacerbating climate change, in a mechanism researchers call the "fire-climate feedback loop."
J.Bondarev--CPN