NOVA SCOTIA, Canada: In spite of the fact that wildfires are typical in Canada’s western provinces, the eastern province of Nova Scotia is currently experiencing its worst wildfire season ever, causing the federal government to dispatch the military there on Thursday.
This year, roughly 200 wildfires in the Atlantic province have consumed more than 19,000 hectares of land and uprooted more than 25,000 people. There were just 152 fires that consumed 3,390 hectares in 2022, Reuters said.
According to federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, this year has seen the scorching of almost 2.7 million hectares across Canada or more than five million football fields.
HOW UNUSUAL ARE WILDFIRES IN NOVA SCOTIA?
The North Atlantic Ocean, which is situated on Canada’s eastern shore, has a significant impact on Nova Scotia’s climate, bringing more humidity and more mild temperatures than in many other regions of the nation. Although fires are not uncommon, they are typically considerably smaller than those in the west.
The area is covered with what is referred to as the “Acadian Forest,” which is made up of both evergreen conifers and broadleaf trees like sugar maples. Because their branches and leaves are higher above the ground and their leaves store more moisture, broadleaf trees are less combustible than evergreens.
Compared to forests in western Canada, the Acadian forest is far less prone to major wildfires.
WHAT’S CAUSING THEM?
This winter’s minimal snowfall in Atlantic Canada was followed by an unusually dry April. According to Michael Carter of the Weather Network, just 120 millimetres of rain fell in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, between March and May, or about one-third of the usual.
On Thursday, a searing heat wave in late May raised the temperature in Halifax to 33 degrees Celsius, around 10 degrees higher than usual.
It is thought that human action unwittingly starts the majority of the wildfires.
There is also speculation, according to Ellen Whitman, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, that trees felled during Hurricane Fiona, which hit Atlantic Canada in September 2022, or killed by a pest infestation in the forest, may be providing more fuel for wildfires than usual. However, further research is needed to confirm this theory.
WHAT ROLE IS CLIMATE CHANGE PLAYING?
Whitman said that while it is challenging to assess the effects of climate change on a single fire season, temperatures in Atlantic Canada have been significantly higher than normal, and experts anticipate that trend to continue in the years to come.
More rain is predicted for coastal locations due to climate change, which should lower the danger of wildfires. However, a warmer atmosphere is more effective at removing moisture from soils, which raises the fire risk.
Research indicates that North American fire seasons are lengthening, making widespread spring fires over the whole country of Canada unprecedented.
WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK FOR THE FIRES?
A stretch of cooler, wetter air is predicted to move through Atlantic Canada on Friday, bringing much-needed respite. According to the longer-term forecast from The Weather Network, summertime temperatures in Nova Scotia will be a little bit higher than average.
If wildfires do continue, the economic impact is anticipated to be minimal since, unlike western Canada, the region has no onshore oil and gas facilities.
![NEW YORK: Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, leading Pakistan’s high-level parliamentary delegation, on Tuesday warned that India's aggressive actions pose a serious threat to peace in South Asia and urged the international community to take note of India's aggressive conduct. Bilawal was addressing a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on recent regional developments after the military conflict between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation is in New York to present Pakistan’s stance on the military escalation with India and to challenge New Delhi’s narrative at the global level. The visit is part of Pakistan’s sustained diplomatic outreach to brief key UN stakeholders on the alarming regional situation. The Pakistani delegation is also scheduled to arrive in Washington today, where it plans to engage with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, other senior officials, lawmakers, and think tanks till June 6. The team will also visit London and Brussels. Speaking at the press conference, Bilawal said that he wanted to use the opportunity to share Pakistan’s perspective on the recent military conflict with India in the wake of the Pahalgam attack and the way forward. Bilawal said that the “illegal strikes” launched by India as part of its ‘Operation Sindoor’ were “in violation of the UN Charter, international law”. He said the attacks had targeted civilian infrastructure, places of worship, energy infrastructure and innocent women and children. He said India had used the April 22 terrorist attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam as a pretext to launch the attack inside Pakistan. Following the Pahalgam incident, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered publicly to India that Pakistan was ready to be part of any impartial international investigation into this attack. “We did so because we were confident, our hands were clean and we had nothing to do with this terrorist attack. “We expressed our sympathy with the victims of terrorism and Pakistan has consistently and unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said, adding that PM Sharif had immediately expressed Pakistan’s willingness to India and the global community to be part of any impartial international investigation. “Indian government refused Pakistan's offer and chose instead to conduct their illegal strikes. Pakistan only then acted in self-defence, we never initiated any violence against India,” Bilawal said. Bilawal emphasised that Pakistan never initiated hostilities against India but responded to Indian aggression by downing six Indian fighter jets. "The Pakistani military had responded with precision the night of the first Indian attack and only targeted and downed six planes because we believed those were the ones to release their load on Pakistan”. He stated that US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio played a vital role in achieving a ceasefire during heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours. “We’ve seen during the course of this conflict how quickly the escalation ladder between our two countries rose and the concern is that the next time there is such an incident, there may not be time for the international community to intervene before things get a lot worse. That is why it is absolutely important for Pakistan and the international community to continue to pursue dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable path to peace.” He said Pakistan’s position was to hold a “comprehensive dialogue” with India that would include the issue of terrorism as well. The head of the Pakistani delegation said that no civilized nation can support the use of water as a weapon and urged the international community to play its part, questioning, "What would be the global reaction if someone’s lifeline was cut off?" He stressed that Pakistan has paid a heavy price in the fight against terrorism and has suffered the most. “The single largest number of terrorist attacks that take place in any one country is Pakistan. The single largest number of victims of terrorism is Pakistan. I myself have suffered at the hands of terrorists. My mother [Benazir Bhutto] was assassinated by the terrorists.” Bilawal also criticised India for targeting water reservoirs and civilian areas, including mosques, during its attacks. Calling negotiations the only path to peace, Bilawal reiterated that the unresolved Kashmir dispute remains the root cause of regional instability. He urged the global community to take notice of India’s aggressive conduct.](https://wenewsenglish.com/storage/2025/06/Bilawal-Bhutto-Zardari-300x180.jpg)
