This story is part of a series exploring the wide-ranging impacts of persistent drought conditions and climate change seen across the province in recent years.
Longer, hotter summers lead to more droughts and a longer wildfire season, it says, and dry conditions make it easier for lightning storms and strong winds to start fires.This year’s fire season is off to a slower start than last year’s, which set a new record for destruction with more than 2.84 million hectares burned — significantly up from the previous record of 1.35 million hectares burned in 2018, the province said in its 2023 wildfire summary.
Younes Alila, a professor in the Faculty of Forestry at the University of B.C., said snow plays an important role in replenishing groundwater. When snow melts over several months, it drips down through tree canopies to recharge groundwater, which comes in handy during dry weather, he said. For example, when areas that have been clearcut are replanted, new young trees consume far more groundwater than the old forest.
Thomas Pypker, chair of the department of natural resource sciences at Thompson Rivers University, said that coming out of the winter with a “very low” snowpack is the biggest water concern. Although the province benefited from some spring rains, a lot more precipitation is needed, he said.“Just because you see water around you doesn’t mean it’s plentiful enough that we can be wasteful,” he said.
During a drought, the top of a tree can be the first to suffer. Tops may topple off or a tree will “flag,” where branches and foliage turn red and die and then drop off.