EditorSA国际影视传媒檚 note: This is the third and final installment of former Yellowknife resident Barry Zellen and his interviews with author Ed Struzik and former SA国际影视传媒 editor James Hrynyshyn about the forest fire season.

I asked Hrynyshyn if the 2023 NWT wildfires present us with a timely SA国际影视传媒� and dramatic SA国际影视传媒� reminder of what Arctic security truly means, less about tank formations crossing borders, more about upheavals to the natural balance itself?

Hrynyshyn replied thoughtfully that he has SA国际影视传媒渓ong thought that the threat from natural upheaval is far greater than any military threat. ThereSA国际影视传媒檚 simply no good reason to physically invade the Arctic when there are much more important fronts to worry about. The trick is to make governments understand that melting permafrost and ice caps pose enormous threats to the entire human race by releasing CO2 and methane and decreasing the albedo of the planet and accelerating ocean warming even further.

SA国际影视传媒淔or many of those far from the Arctic, these are abstractions. For those in the Arctic they are all too real SA国际影视传媒� climate change is here and now. Unfortunately, Northerners have no power, and I donSA国际影视传媒檛 think those that do are prepared to do much about it yet.SA国际影视传媒�

If there is an upside, itSA国际影视传媒檚 only that awareness of the profound dangers of Arctic climate change has grown dramatically since HrynyshynSA国际影视传媒檚 arrival to the NWT at the dawn of the 1990s.

SA国际影视传媒淕iven how much attention real journalists are finally devoting to the issue (The Wasington Post has 30 full-time climate journalists now!), I donSA国际影视传媒檛 think I need to continue egging them on, which was the point of Class M. So I have switched to hyperlocal podcasting.SA国际影视传媒�

I asked Struzik if the mutual challenge wildfires presents to the entire Arctic with a compelling reason to reach across the re-emerging East-West divide, and resume pan-Arctic co-operation on at least this particular challenge given its gravity and enormity.

SA国际影视传媒淚 wish it were so,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淏ut based on everything ISA国际影视传媒檝e seen and heard from scientists so far, pan-Arctic cooperation is unlikely so long as (Vladimir) Putin is in power.SA国际影视传媒�

Struzik recalled how following the catastrophic 2010 fire season, the German government offered money and expertise to help restore the hydrological regimes that keep RussiaSA国际影视传媒檚 peaty bogs, fens, and marshes wet and their carbon sequestered.

But on the day that Russia invaded Ukraine, German institutes SA国际影视传媒� including the Succow Foundation SA国际影视传媒� withdrew their support. Just weeks afterward, a Russian bomb in Ukraine likely triggered a wildfire in the forest around the Chernobyl nuclear site, a focus of another rewetting project.

Struzik cautions that this SA国际影视传媒渃essation of scientific collaboration comes at a precarious moment for the Arctic: Environmental risks associated with sea ice loss, pollution, and shipping are increasing; Russia and other Arctic states are proposing new boundary lines along the continental shelf that would expand their claims over the Arctic Ocean seabed; and peatlands have been continuing to burn after a year of record-setting wildfires in northern Russia, adding substantially to the nationSA国际影视传媒檚 greenhouse gas emissions. (Russia is the worldSA国际影视传媒檚 fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases.)

In addition, China is ramping up its economic interests in the Arctic. StruzikSA国际影视传媒檚 takeaway: SA国际影视传媒淭he Arctic has long been a model for optimism and international cooperation. A lot needs to be done to keep it that way.SA国际影视传媒�

As Struzik explains: SA国际影视传媒淲hat happens in the Arctic matters to the rest of the world. There are many examples to drive this point home. One of the most impactful is the jet stream, which manufactures weather and moves weather from west to east. The strength of the jet stream is dependent on the difference in temperature between the Arctic and mid-latitudes. The larger the difference, the stronger the jet stream.

SA国际影视传媒淎s the temperatures difference wanes in this warming world, the jet stream weakens. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 why we see heat domes building in places like British Columbia, which has been hard hit by wildfires since 2017. The jet stream is not strong enough to move it and allow wet Pacific moisture to move in.SA国际影视传媒�

Hrynyshyn predicts that we can expect lots more disruption in the future.

SA国际影视传媒淚 donSA国际影视传媒檛 see this yearSA国际影视传媒檚 fire as the culmination, but the beginning a new normal, in which those who have settled the North have to spend of a lot of scarce resources just maintaining a livable environment,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

He further notes that the NWT SA国际影视传媒渉asnSA国际影视传媒檛 engaged in forest management practices as forestry isnSA国际影视传媒檛 a significant industry, so you canSA国际影视传媒檛 blame the fires on build-up of forest floor detritus, like you can in California. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 simply that the summers are longer and hotter and winters and shorter.SA国际影视传媒�

And this is having profound impacts on the entirety of the circumpolar world, he adds: SA国际影视传媒淐ertainly the permafrost is melting around the world. Any literature search of climate change at the ecosystem level will show dramatic changes in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, northern Scandinavia, and Russia. Meanwhile, glaciologists are worried about Antarctic ice cover, which may be about to experience a sudden and catastrophic decline. And just about everything will be affected.SA国际影视传媒�

Struzik concurs, noting SA国际影视传媒渕any people refer to this new wildfire paradigm as the SA国际影视传媒榥ew normalSA国际影视传媒�.SA国际影视传媒�

But as he notes above, this rising tide of Arctic infernos is not altogether new, dating back two decades to the start of the 21st Century. Moreover, SA国际影视传媒渢here is nothing normal about what is happening. Almost each year since the turn of the century has brought something new and unexpected, as I point out in my book Dark Days at Noon: The Future of Fire. Unless we come to grips with this new reality, nothing will be normal.SA国际影视传媒�