Record-breaking global temperature, raging wildfires highlight effects of climate change

Amna Nawaz:

Welcome to the "NewsHour."

It has been a week of record-breaking heat around the world. The average global temperature on Wednesday hit 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit. According to researchers at the University of Maine, that matched the unofficial record-high just set on Tuesday.

The grim milestones are the latest in a series of climate-change-driven extremes. Out-of-control wildfires in Canada have burned millions of acres, displaced tens of thousands of people, and blanketed wide swathes of the U.S. in thick smoke.

For more on all these events and what we should take from them, we're joined by Mike Flannigan, an expert on climate change and wildfires at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia.

Professor Flannigan, thanks for joining us.

This week, we saw the hottest global temperatures ever recorded. That is since tracking began in 1979. What does that tell us? And how concerning is that to you?

Mike Flannigan, Thompson Rivers University:

It's very concerning.

We're in uncharted territory. And we jumped up 0.3 degrees Fahrenheit. That may not sound like much, but, compared to our record, that's sticking out like a sore thumb. So we're in uncharted territory. We can expect more record-breaking heat, as El Nino builds in.

Amna Nawaz:

Scientific models have, of course, been predicting a warming climate for some time. But did we expect to see these kinds of temperatures this soon?

Mike Flannigan:

I would say our models on temperature have been pretty good.

Where we have fallen short is on impacts. We're seeing much more impacts from our warming climate than what we expected. And the impacts are only going to get worse and worse.

Amna Nawaz:

Tell me more about what you mean by impacts.

Mike Flannigan:

So, I study forest fires, and I have been studying forest fires since the 1970s.

And I have never seen a year like we're seeing in Canada this year. This is exceptional, extreme. And we're into new territory. We have burned almost nine million hectares, and that's bigger than the state of South Carolina. And these fires will continue to burn through the summer, and they will generate smoke that can impact tens of millions of people.

If you live in downtown New York City, the likelihood of your place burning down is essentially zero. But you can be smoked out for weeks from a fire that's 1,000 miles away from New York City.

Amna Nawaz:

Professor Flannigan, of course, we have seen the impact of those fires, as you mentioned down here in the U.S.

And when you look at a chart, you can see just how much more total area has been burned this year in those Canadian wildfires — that's the red line on top — as compared to years past.

But help us understand how climate change is part of the conversation and driving these record fires you're seeing.

Mike Flannigan:

So, as the climate warms, we're seeing more and more fire.

And people ask me all the time, why is temperature so important? Well, it's because we're getting a longer fire season with that warming. We're getting more lightning-caused fires with that warming. And lightning-caused fires are responsible for most of the burned area in Canada.

Also, as we warm, it dries out the fuels, and drier fuels means it's easier for a fire to start, easier for a fire to spread. And it means the fires have more fuel to burn, which means that leads to a higher-intensity fire, which can be difficult to impossible to extinguish.

Amna Nawaz:

We have seen in the latest maps showing there are still hundreds of fires burning out of control across Canada. Those are indicated by the red dots you see here.

What's key to making sure that these fires don't end up devastating communities And how would you say Canada is doing on that front?

Mike Flannigan:

There's a lot of year-to-year variability in fire because of the weather.

We have seen extreme fire weather very early on in the season going right through the season so far, from sea to sea to sea. We already have broken the previous record for area burned, and we still have much the fire season ahead of us.

Amna Nawaz:

Professor Flannigan, I have to ask you the question we often hear when reporting on issues around climate change, which is this idea that the Earth has gone through heating and cooling periods over its entire existence.

How do you know this isn't part of some larger cyclical pattern?

Mike Flannigan:

Well, if we were following the natural cyclical pattern, we would be into a cooling stage.

But we're going the opposite direction. We are warming. We have the greenhouse gases that we know, like carbon dioxide, since the 1950s going up and up to levels we have not seen for three to four million years. And these are the primary reason why we are warming, because of human activities.

Amna Nawaz:

Finally, when we look at the record wildfires in Canada, are those indicative of what other areas that regularly see wildfires, like California, for example, what they should expect ahead?

Mike Flannigan:

In the future, as our world warms, we're going to see more and more fire. And this applies to Canada and the United States and Australia.

And there's three ingredients for wildfire. It's a simple recipe. You need vegetation. We call it fuel. How much, how dry, important. Second, ignition, people and the lightning, and, third, hot, dry, windy weather. As we move into the future, we're seeing and we expect more hot, dry, windy weather in Canada, Western United States.

Western United States has already seen an increase of four times in terms of area burned since the 1970s. In Canada, it's a doubling. So the impact has already been greater in Western United States than Canada, but we're following the same path.

Amna Nawaz:

That is Professor Mike Flannigan from Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia joining us tonight.

Professor, thank you for your time.

Mike Flannigan:

My pleasure.