Cyclist issued fine for striking four-year-old girl crossing the street
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
As wildfires rage throughout parts of Canada, one fire in particular is highlighting concerns about so-called "zombie fires."
Authorities in the Northwest Territories are monitoring a large fire that has flared up after remaining dormant underground during the winter months.
Fires that persist through the winter in Canada were once considered a rare phenomenon, but experts warn these events are becoming more common as temperatures get warmer and less snow falls.
According to the BC Wildfire Service, a "zombie fire" – more commonly known as an overwintering fire or a holdover fire – occurs when a wildfire that burned deep underground in the previous year has continued to smoulder all winter long.
The agency warns these "residual hot spots" can re-emerge with the onset of warmer, dry weather in the spring.
Jennifer Baltzer, an associate professor of biology at Wilfrid Laurier University and Canada Research Chair in forests and global change, told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview on Monday "zombie fires" smouldering in the biomass, such as the roots and bowls of trees or in peat soils, of the affected landscape.
Such phenomena can cause wildfire season to begin sooner than expected and last longer, she said. Baltzer added that overwintering fires also have the potential to cause much larger changes and carbon losses in the ecosystem than an ordinary wildfire.
"A single-season fire burns through the season and then ends, whereas a smoldering fire continues to combust wood and peat soils throughout the winter -- very, very slowly -- but we continue to see combustion throughout the winter," Baltzer said.
According to a 2021 study, overwintering fires generally accounted for a small amount (about one per cent) of the total burned area in the Northwest Territories and Alaska between 2022 and 2018.
However, researchers out of the University Amsterdam and the University of Alaska Fairbanks found there was a "surprising" increase in the number of overwintering fires reported in individual years.
In Alaska, for example, overwintering fires accounted for 38 per cent of the burned landscape during the 2008 wildfire season, according to the study.
Experts suggest "zombie fires" could become more common due to climate change, as hot, dry conditions associated with heavy fire years can lead this deep burning of carbon-rich biomass.
A study published in 2019 found increasing summer temperatures associated with climate warming may promote the survival of overwintering fires in the future, threatening boreal regions including the sub-Arctic, Arctic, Northwest Territories and the northern areas in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Baltzer, who is leading a team of researchers in collecting field data on "zombie fires" in the Northwest Territories, hopes to further analyze how these fires affect carbon loss and forest regeneration in Canada.
Baltzer explained shrubs that recover quickly from wildfires can do this because of underground plant systems. However, "zombie fires" damage these systems as well as seed beds for trees, which "inhibit reproduction and recolonization of these sites" post-fire, she said.
"This is a concern is because of the changing fire activity in Boreal forests," Baltzer said. "High latitude systems are warming at about three to four times the rate of the planet… And this really rapid warming is causing these systems to be more flammable… [resulting in] larger areas burned, more severe fires and more frequent fires."
Baltzer said overwintering fires are "inherently linked with climate change," as they become more prevalent following years that see increased wildfire activity, which is steadily rising amid global warming.
With this in mind, Baltzer said preventing "zombie fires" will require a reduction of fossil fuel emissions to slow the overall production of greenhouse gases driving global warming.
While Baltzer acknowledges this requires a global effort and is beyond the scope of her research team, she says they are working to provide fire managers with information to support an enhanced understanding of where "zombie fires" are in Canada to help inform the understanding of the behaviour of theses fires and how to respond.
See the map showing wildfires burning across North America, provided by ESRI Canada, full screen
With files from The Canadian Press
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
A man who was accused of sexually and physically assaulting a woman had his charges dropped in April, just weeks before he was set to stand trial in Toronto, due to a lack of judges in the region.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
A protest encampment set up on the University of Alberta campus was cleared early Saturday morning by Edmonton police.
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.