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Must beauty always come with pain?
Not even Mother Earth is spared.
The French say “il faut souffrir pour être belle”
“one must suffer to be beautiful”.
The meteorologists report that Canada’s blaze
may create an extraordinary sunset
from the poisonous haze.
The death of a forest combines with the end of a day.
A terrible funeral pyre from which smoke chokes the air.
Yet Nature rises like the Phoenix,
the sinking Sun takes a deep, brave, gasping breath,
exhaling one last crimson burst,
creating a sky too awesome to bear.
Photo: Hazy sky in Vermontville due to wildfires. Photo by Melissa Hart
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That was O so true years ago when the climate was somewhat stable. Now with the planet burning and our future at stake it is more of a haunting premonition as to the fate of life on earth! I dont think the Pheonix will rise again.
Some will surely dissagree, but the changes I have witnessed in the Adirondacks over the last 10 years is something to mourn. Including the smokey sunsets over the ocean.
This fire will give birth to double the amount of carbon sucking plant life within a year. I maintain my optimism that this will yield life of a new forest not death.
These fires while devastating will produce new growth in the forest. It may not look pretty now but in a year or two you won’t notice it happened. Pretty Smoky down here in CNY. Hard to believe you can actually smell the smoke this far away. Can’t imagine what things are like north of the border.
Wildfires are a natural part of the landscape and are quite beneficial to the ecological health of the ecosystem in the long run. I like to think of this as a transformation. Hard to watch beauty disappear, but eventually this fire will give birth to more life than was there before. Beautifully written article though. Thanks for sharing.
What type of forest is burning in Nova Scotia? Is it part of the Great Northern Forest like we have here or something different?
I believe it is mostly conifers burning. At last count 8.2 million acres have burned and still burning. That is 2 million acres more than the whole Adirondack Park. Imagine the whole park on fire. Unimaginable I know. These fires are not natural wildfires. They are the result of the climate getting hotter and dryer. These fires are so much hotter they scorch the earth so most seeds and wildlife wont return. 2 or 3 years will not replace 400 year old trees.
Joe Kozlina says: ” it is more of a haunting premonition as to the fate of life on earth!”
This thought is what comes to me the most regards all of the weather-related events which have been taking shape these years of late….the floods, wildfires, draughts, lakes drying up, glaciers melting…… It makes sense to me that the more we warm and the more water we lose, the warmer it will get, and the more likely the water will not have the capability to replenish itself. And what are we doing different?
Zachary Denton says: “This fire will give birth to double the amount of carbon sucking plant life within a year.”
The reverse can also happen Zach as things are not what once they used to be! What if it’s too warm and there’s not the moisture carbon-sucking plant life relies upon?
Rob says: “These fires while devastating will produce new growth in the forest. It may not look pretty now but in a year or two you won’t notice it happened.”
It is good to look on the bright side, we can use more of that sorta thinking, but there’s reality too. My fear with too much of this kind of thinking is that complacency might slip in which, in turn, will induce more dire results due to our anticipation of the best possible outcome.
Joe Kozlina says: “These fires are not natural wildfires. They are the result of the climate getting hotter and dryer. These fires are so much hotter they scorch the earth so most seeds and wildlife wont return. 2 or 3 years will not replace 400 year old trees.”
400 years old trees are fast becoming a rare species, especially the more we warm up! All of that drilling for gas cannot be helping matters regards these forest fires. Canada soil has become a pin cushion for new wells. You cannot learn an old dog new tricks, not where there’s wealth and an ego involved! Ask Joe Manchin, he’ll tell ya!
Rob says: “These fires while devastating will produce new growth in the forest. It may not look pretty now but in a year or two you won’t notice it happened.”
> It is good to look on the bright side, we can use more of that sorta thinking, but there’s reality too. My fear with too much of this kind of thinking is that complacency might slip in which, in turn, will induce more dire results due to our anticipation of the best possible outcome.
Joe Kozlina says: “These fires are not natural wildfires. They are the result of the climate getting hotter and dryer. These fires are so much hotter they scorch the earth so most seeds and wildlife wont return. 2 or 3 years will not replace 400 year old trees.”
> 400 years old trees are fast becoming a rare species, especially the more we warm up! All of that drilling for gas cannot be helping matters regards these forest fires. Canada soil has become a pin cushion for new wells. You cannot learn an old dog new tricks, not where there’s wealth and an ego involved! Ask Joe Manchin, he’ll tell ya!
Zachary Denton says: “This fire will give birth to double the amount of carbon sucking plant life within a year.”
> The reverse can also happen Zach as things are not what once they used to be! What if it’s too warm and there’s not the moisture carbon-sucking plant life relies upon?