Edward Struzik
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Articles by Edward Struzik
Opinion: Jasper fire a grim reminder of the urgency of adopting a Canadian national wildfire strategy
Opinion: What does the future hold for hundreds of small boreal forest towns across the country? • • You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account. Article content In what is becoming an unfortunately common occurrence, the town of Jasper, Alta. has been ravaged by a wildfire of unprecedented scale. Crews report witnessing “300- to 400-foot flames,” while up to 30 per cent of Jasper’s buildings were destroyed.
Jasper fire is a grim reminder of the urgency of adopting a Canadian national wildfire strategy Original
In what is becoming an unfortunately common occurrence, the town of Jasper, Alta. has been ravaged by a wildfire of unprecedented scale. Crews report witnessing “300- to 400-foot flames,” while one-third of Jasper’s buildings were destroyed. Luckily, there have been no reported fatalities so far.
The 2024 Jasper Fire is a grim reminder of the urgency of adopting a Canadian national wildfire strategy Original
In what is becoming an unfortunately common occurrence, the town of Jasper, Alta. has been ravaged by a wildfire of unprecedented scale. Crews report witnessing “300- to 400-foot flames,” while up to 50 per cent of Jasper’s buildings may be damaged. Luckily, there have been no reported fatalities so far.
Book Review: Swamplands, Tundra Beavers, Quaking Bogs, and the Improbable World of Peat by Edward Struzik
Gardeners are familiar with peat – it comes in bags and is a handy addition to their soil mix. But peat is so much more than dead dry matter in a bag. Peatlands are home to cranberries and orchids, rare moths and butterflies, woodland caribou and tree-climbing turtles. They prevent both flooding and fires and soak up carbon.
What the Blazes?
When Clark Kerr, the head of the University of California, Berkeley, was dismissed in 1967, he said, “I left the presidency just as I had entered it — fired with enthusiasm.” Donald Trump made his television reputation by barking, “You’re fired!” (a phrase that Elon Musk has appropriated with gleeful promiscuity).
Swamplands: Tundra Beavers, Quaking Bogs, and the Improbable World of Peat
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Despite its long history of wildfires, Canada still doesn't know how to live with them
In the fall of 1922, the city of Toronto sent 85 surplus streetcars to Haileybury and other northern Ontario towns to help house thousands of desperate people who had lost their homes to wildfires. Known as the Great Fire, it burned nearly 1,700 square kilometers of the area—including the town of Haileybury. It killed 43 people and caused millions of dollars in property damage in 18 townships. A newspaper referred to it as the "worst disaster that had ever overtaken northern Ontario." It was not.
Despite its long history of wildfires, Canada still doesn't know how to live with them
In the fall of 1922, the city of Toronto sent 85 surplus streetcars to Haileybury and other northern Ontario towns to help house thousands of desperate people who had lost their homes to wildfires. Known as the Great Fire, it burned nearly 1,700 square kilometres of the area — including the town of Haileybury. It killed 43 people and caused millions of dollars in property damage in 18 townships. A newspaper referred to it as the “worst disaster that had ever overtaken northern Ontario.” It was not.
Despite its long history of wildfires, Canada still doesn't know how to live with them Original
In the fall of 1922, the city of Toronto sent 85 surplus streetcars to Haileybury and other northern Ontario towns to help house thousands of desperate people who had lost their homes to wildfires. Known as the Great Fire, it burned nearly 1,700 square kilometres of the area — including the town of Haileybury. It killed 43 people and caused millions of dollars in property damage in 18 townships. A newspaper referred to it as the “worst disaster that had ever overtaken northern Ontario.” It was not.
Dark Days at Noon
Why we should learn to live with fire, rather than trying to solve or eradicate it. The catastrophic runaway wildfires advancing through North America and other parts of the world are not unprecedented. Fires loomed large once human activity began to warm the climate in the 1820s, leading to an aggressive firefighting strategy that has left many of the continent’s forests too old and vulnerable to the fires that many tree species need to regenerate.
Dark Days at Noon: The Future of Fire: Struzik, Edward: 9780228012092: Books
Review “Dark Days at Noon explores the role of wildland fire in history and also looks into the future of wildfire. A skilled storyteller, Struzik has the keen ability to reach his audience while maintaining a high standard with respect to science.
The Arctic community that chose conservation over Big Oil
Angus Sanguez is 67-years-old and whippet-thin. His face has been weathered by years of living in the Dehcho region in Canada’s Northwest Territories, a sub-Arctic wilderness that is on the frontlines of climate change. Sanguez was born and raised in the Dene community in Tthets’ek’ehdeli (also known as Jean Marie River), one of six indigenous communities in the Dehcho region.
Literary Review of Canada
Readers may not open Swamplands expecting to learn much about art history, yet that is one of the many lessons Edward Struzik offers in his timely and enchanting disquisition on the many facets of peat. Before the Group of Seven set their brushes to capturing the boggy beauty of Georgian Bay in the 1920s, Struzik explains, Canadian landscapes looked suspiciously like the rolling hills and dales of the English countryside.
SWAMPLANDS by Edward Struzik Read by Christopher Grove
by Edward Struzik | Read by Christopher Grove Contemporary Culture 10.5 hrs. Unabridged © 2021 Narrator Christopher Grove proves to be an able guide on this journey through swamps and fens around the world. With a sense of purpose and a growing tone of urgency, he delivers the author's case that these critical landscapes must be preserved.
The science of 'growing' peat
This is an excerpt from "Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the From Swamplands: Tundra Beavers, Quaking Bogs and the Improbable World of Peat," by Edward Struzik Copyright 2021 by the author. Reproduced by permission of Island Press, Washington, D.C. In 1991, the Johnson and Johnson Company introduced a peat-based sanitary pad that promised to be thinner, lighter and more environmentally friendly. More than $40 million was spent over a 15-year period to develop it.
Now Available- Swamplands: Tundra Beavers, Quaking Bogs, and the Improbable World of Peat
An urgent call to understand the importance and beauty of peatlands.
Peatlands protect against wildfire and flooding, but they're still under attack in Canada
Arctic peatland in the Mackenzie Valley. A quarter of all global peatland carbon is found in Canada. Credit: Ed Struzik, Author provided When record-breaking wildfires in western Russia killed 65 people, injured 1,068, destroyed 3,500 homes and caused billions in damages in 2010, it was no longer business-as-usual in Russia's response to the impacts of climate change.
Climate change could turn a carbon sink into a carbon bomb
Image Credit: robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo The following excerpt is from Swamplands: Tundra Beavers, Quaking Bogs, and the Improbable World of Peat by Edward Struzik. Copyright © 2021 by the author.
Climate Change Could Turn a Carbon Sink Into a Carbon Bomb
The following excerpt is from Swamplands: Tundra Beavers, Quaking Bogs, and the Improbable World of Peat by Edward Struzik. Copyright © 2021 by the author. Reproduced by permission of Island Press, Washington, D.C. The Hudson Bay Lowlands is a much different place in late spring and summer, when its big rivers are flowing — the Seal, Churchill, Nelson, and Hayes in Manitoba, the Severn, Winisk, Albany, and Abitibi in Ontario, and the Eastmain and La Grande in Quebec.
For the Love of Peat: Our Best Defence against a Changing Climate
Listen to an audio version of this story For more audio from The Walrus, subscribe to AMI-audio podcasts on iTunes. When the 2016 Horse River Fire began making its run toward Fort McMurray, wildfire fighters were shocked by its severity and speed. The region, once dominated by wet peatlands, had been drained to make way for a tree-planting experiment.
Peatlands protect against wildfire and flooding, but they're still under attack in Canada
When record-breaking wildfires in western Russia killed 65 people, injured 1,068, destroyed 3,500 homes and caused billions in damages in 2010, it was no longer business-as-usual in Russia’s response to the impacts of climate change.
For a stronger, cleaner economy
Listen on YouTube ｜Listen on Apple Podcasts ｜Listen on Spotify IN THIS EPISODE: 1. The high price of wildfires It’s the middle of July and hundreds of deadly wildfires are already on our doorsteps, many of them being described by authorities as out of control. This is the kind of runaway “megafire” season scientists have been warning about. Can we afford it? From paying for migrant firefighters to covering billions in insurance claims, this episode looks at what wildfires cost us.
La reproduction en captivité des caribous n'empêchera pas leur extinction
En octobre, plus de deux ans après la disparition du dernier caribou de la vallée de la Maligne dans le parc national de Jasper, Parcs Canada a annoncé un plan provisoire de reproduction en captivité des caribous. Les femelles d’autres troupeaux seront rassemblées et enfermées dans une installation près de la ville de Jasper. Le plan doit d’abord être évalué par des experts, ce qui aura probablement lieu en janvier.
Caribou captive breeding program may come too late to prevent extinction in national parks
In October, more than two years after the last caribou in the Maligne Valley of Jasper National Park died or disappeared, Parks Canada announced a tentative plan for a caribou captive breeding program. Subject to an expert review that will likely take place in January, females from other herds will be rounded up and penned in a facility near the town of Jasper.
Aerial Firefighting During a Pandemic
In the summer of 2003, I had a first-hand look at a fire season that was unlike any that had occurred before. Thousands of acres were burning in Western Canada, prompting officials to call in more people to help suppress the fires. They piled into crowded tent camps and other makeshift facilities. Approximately 45,000 people were evacuated to nearby towns, hotels and community centres for days and sometimes weeks. Hundreds of emergency relief responders came in close contact.
How coronavirus could make a bad wildfire season even worse
The Forecast Severity Anomaly shows which regions are predicted to be above or below the regional climate average. Credit: Canadian Wildland Fire Information System In the summer of 2003, I had a first-hand look at a f … had occurred before. Thousands of acres were burning in Western Canada, prompting officials to call in more people to help suppress the fires. They piled into crowded tent camps and other makeshift facilities.
How coronavirus could make a bad wildfire season even worse
In the summer of 2003, I had a first-hand look at a fire season that was unlike any that had occurred before. Thousands of acres were burning in Western Canada, prompting officials to call in more people to help suppress the fires. They piled into crowded tent camps and other makeshift facilities. Approximately 45,000 people were evacuated to nearby towns, hotels and community centres for days and sometimes weeks. Hundreds of emergency relief responders came in close contact.
How wildfires have and will continue to shape our future
This is an excerpt from "Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future" by Edward Struzik. Copyright 2017 by Edward Struzik Reproduced by permission of Island Press, Washington, D.C. It was made available in paperback Sept. 5. A History of Fire Suppression As is well known to old timers, the Indian fired the forests with the deliberate intent of confusing and concentrating game so as to make hunting easier. . . .
Travels in the Apocalypse · LRB 7 February 2019
Last spring , my wife, wanting to change career, was accepted by nursing school, and our family – the two of us, two young boys, a middle-aged dog – suddenly had to move house. We were leaving Seattle, where we had lived for a decade, a city with ample rain, though one within range of volcanoes and earthquakes, for a small town in the mountains of southern Oregon.
Literary Review of Canada
Cold Rush: The Astonishing True Story of the New Quest for the Polar North Martin Breum McGill-Queen’s University Press 264 pages, hardcover ISBN 9780773553637 Share This Review In April 2010, I was camped on a precarious ice floe close to where the magnetic North Pole once was before it continued to drift toward Russian territory. During the time I was there, the temperature never rose above -25 Celcius with the wind chill.
Is Canada ready for the next big wildfire?
A home in Cache Creek, B.C., cowers below raging wildfires in July 2017 (Darryl Dyck/CP) Edward Struzik is a fellow at Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. Southern California is recovering from its worst fire season ever, the second in a row. By all accounts, it is going to get a lot worse as the climate continues to heat up and as the cyclical nature of drought resumes its sometimes unpredictable course.
Soot-Filled Rivers Mark the Need for a National Wildfire Strategy
During the record-breaking 2018 fire season, the typically clear waters of Cameron Falls in Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta flowed black. But it had nothing to do with the extensive fires that torched much of British Columbia and a small part of Waterton. The carbon came from the remnants of another wildfire that had raced 26 kilometres — from one end of the park to the other — in less than eight hours the year before.
Soot-filled rivers mark the need for a national wildfire strategy
The carbon came from the remnants of another wildfire that had raced 26 kilometres —from one end of the park to the other —in less than eight hours the year before. Heavy rain from a violent thunderstorm in July 2018 flushed the ash, soot and blackened debris that lay on the forest floor into the Cameron River.
Soot-filled rivers mark the need for a national wildfire strategy
During the record-breaking 2018 fire season, the typically clear waters of Cameron Falls in Waterton Lakes National Park in southern Alberta flowed black. But it had nothing to do with the extensive fires that torched much of British Columbia and a small part of Waterton. The carbon came from the remnants of another wildfire that had raced 26 kilometres — from one end of the park to the other — in less than eight hours the year before.
As ice recedes, the Arctic isn't prepared for more shipping traffic
I was aboard the 364-foot Russian research-cruise ship Akademik Ioffe when it came to a violent stop after grounding on a shoal in a remote region of the Gulf of Boothia in Canada’s Arctic. Fortunately, none of the 102 passengers and 24 crew members were injured. Chemical contaminants that may or may not have been pumped out with the bilge water seemed to be minor. It could have ended up a lot worse.
As ice recedes, the Arctic isn’t prepared for more shipping traffic
I was aboard the 364-foot Russian research-cruise ship Akademik Ioffe when it came to a violent stop after grounding on a shoal in a remote region of the Gulf of Boothia in Canada’s Arctic. Fortunately, none of the 102 passengers and 24 crew members were injured. Chemical contaminants that may or may not have been pumped out with the bilge water seemed to be minor. It could have ended up a lot worse.
Why Arctic Shipping Becomes Increasingly Risky as Sea Ice Recedes
Why Arctic Shipping Becomes Increasingly More Risky as Sea Ice Recedes Since 2007, there have been five groundings in the Canadian Arctic. I was aboard the 364-foot Russian research-cruise ship Akademik Ioffe when it came to a violent stop after grounding on a shoal in a remote region of the Gulf of Boothia in Canada’s Arctic. Fortunately, none of the 102 passengers and 24 crew members were injured.
As ice recedes, the Arctic isn't prepared for more shipping traffic
It could have ended up a lot worse. I was on the ship representing Yale Environment 360, which commissioned me to report on climate change in the Arctic and the research that scientists and students with the U.S. National Foundation sponsored Northwest Passage Project were to be conducting on that three-week voyage.
As ice recedes, the Arctic isn't prepared for more shipping traffic
I was aboard the 364-foot Russian research-cruise ship Akademik Ioffe when it came to a violent stop after grounding on a shoal in a remote region of the Gulf of Boothia in Canada’s Arctic. Fortunately, none of the 102 passengers and 24 crew members were injured. Chemical contaminants that may or may not have been pumped out with the bilge water seemed to be minor. It could have ended up a lot worse.
Fighting fires is hard enough. Why are we making it harder?
Edward Struzik is a fellow at Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy’s School of Policy Studies, at Queen’s University, in Ontario. Shortly after my book “Firestorm, How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future” was published in late 2017, I received a flurry of invitations to speak about the challenges of dealing with fires that are burning bigger, hotter, more often—and in increasingly unpredictable ways.
Fighting historic wildfires amid bad ideas and no funding
Shortly after my book “Firestorm, How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future” was published in late 2017, I received a flurry of invitations to speak about the challenges of dealing with fires that are burning bigger, hotter, more often — and in increasingly unpredictable ways.
Fighting historic wildfires amid bad ideas and no funding
Shortly after my book “Firestorm, How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future” was published in late 2017, I received a flurry of invitations to speak about the challenges of dealing with fires that are burning bigger, hotter, more often — and in increasingly unpredictable ways.
How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future
The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire was the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history. It destroyed some 2,000 residential and commercial buildings, sent 88,000 people fleeing from their homes and burned an area larger than Prince Edward Island. The $3.6-billion in insurance losses exceeded the Province of Alberta’s investment in its roads and bridges in 2017.
It's time to press the reset button on Canada's national parks
Last summer, my daughter and I hiked the Sulphur Skyline trail in Jasper National Park. As it was mid-week, we had hoped it would not be as crowded as it can be on a weekend. Nothing, however, prepared us for the caravan of people we encountered along the way. There were seasoned hikers like us.
It's time to press the reset button on Canada's national parks
Last summer, my daughter and I hiked the Sulphur Skyline trail in Jasper National Park. As it was mid-week, we had hoped it would not be as crowded as it can be on a weekend. Nothing, however, prepared us for the caravan of people we encountered along the way. There were seasoned hikers like us.
Welcome to the Arctic, Fish | Hakai Magazine
Narwhals travel and hunt along the edges of sea ice. With climate change, narwhals and other ice-dependent animals have to adapt to an evolving Arctic. Photo by Flip Nicklin/Minden Pictures As the climate changes, the Arctic Ocean beckons Pacific salmon and other species. How will we fish responsibly?
Canada's North Needs Many Things, But Oil and Gas Drilling Isn't One of Them
This article was originally published on The Conversation Canada. Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod was right when he issued a “red alert” in November and called for an urgent national debate on the future of the Northwest Territories. His peers, the premiers of Nunavut and the Yukon Territory, would be justified in calling for the same thing.
A red alert for the future Arctic
Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod was right when he issued a “red alert” in November and called for an urgent national debate on the future of the Northwest Territories. His peers, the premiers of Nunavut and the Yukon Territory, would be justified in calling for the same thing.
Arctic on Fire | World Policy Institute
On June 19, 2015, a slow-moving low-pressure system with spectacular thunderstorms that produced little rain began making its way through Alaska. By the time the storms finally petered out about a week later, 61,000 bolts of lightning had been unleashed on a boreal forest in the state. No one had ever seen anything quite like it, not even in 2004, when 8,500 lightning strikes were recorded in a single day. The 2015 storms triggered 270 fires in Alaska.
FIRESTORM by Edward Struzik
Warning: wildfires are coming and they are going to be bigger, more frequent, more unpredictable, and faster moving than ever. Struzik (Future Arctic: Field Notes from a World on the Edge, 2015, etc.)—a fellow at the School of Policy Studies, Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy at Queen University in Kingston, Canada—presents an almost overwhelming array of facts about wildfires that leave room for little doubt about the hazard they represent.
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