Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
So how big is the impact area of the Polley Mine disaster and how does it compare to impact area of a forest fire.
Currently: Just in the prince George Fire Area (Polley Mines is in this area) there are 26 wildfires burning covering a total of 145,071 Hectares.
These are natural events that kill wild life, destroys wild life habitat, pollutes waters , causes erosion and potential flooding and it takes nature 8-10 years to recover. I can not even start to imagine the impact the release of carbon is having on global warming.
The biggest difference is that due to the economic activity generated by and roads built to service the Polley Mines there are more people involved. If it were not for the people involved and quadruple whole Mount Polley were on fire it would not even merit a mention.
22km Tennakihi M/L, Meslinika Drainage
Red Deer Creek
Forres Mountain
Mount McAllister
Euchiniko Lakes
all have more than 10,000 hecatre on fire...
For some perspective Nose Hill Park covers 1,126 Hectares.
Maybe the Calgary FLAMES should change their name in light of making light of this these disasters.
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This is something I didn't really understand until forestry school...but fire leads to a healthier forest in the long term. I don't think things like Polley do, unless I'm missing some sort of new fangled research. In the short term yes, fire kills things and puts stuff in the air. It also cleanses and renews an ecosystem, where a mine tailings disaster introduces foreign elements into a system which may never recover.