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Scientists are quick to caution that no single extreme weather event can necessarily be linked to global warming.

However, it's hard not to conclude that something is awry with the arrival of an early B.C. forest-fire season.

B.C. government statistics show that in 2014, there were 369,169 hectares on fire. This exceeded the amount burned in each of the previous nine years.

This year, there are already 221,455 hectares burned, exceeding all but two years from 2004 to 2014.

Last year was the second-most expensive B.C. forest-fire season in a decade at $297.9 million. The average for the previous nine years was $177.9 million.

In 2014 the average hectares per fire (248.8) were far above the norm. Only once in the previous decade (2010) did the average exceed 100 hectares per fire—that year, it was 201.6.

This year, the average hectares per B.C. wildfire have reached 256.

Meanwhile, the Union of Concerned Scientists states on its website that the average length of the wildfire season in the Western United States rose from five months in the early 1970s to more than seven months now.

There was an average of 140 fires per year larger than 405 hectares (1,000 acres) in the Western U.S. from 1980 to 1989. Between 2000 to 2012, the average increased to 250 fires per year.

The UCS forecasts that every ecosystem type "is projected to experience an increase in average annual burn area".

It cites an earlier spring snowmelt—triggered by warmer temperatures—causing soil to remain dryer for a longer period of time.

"These hot, dry conditions also increase the likelihood that, once wildfires are started by lightning strikes or human error, they will be more intense and long-burning," the UCS states.

A week ago, the Vancouver Sun reported that 64 temperature records were shattered across B.C. in a weekend heat wave.

Yesterday and this morning, the Lower Mainland has been shrouded in a smoky haze from wildfires, causing coughing fits around the region and prompting an air-quality advisory.

Yet amid the massive media coverage of B.C.'s forest fires, climate change has rarely been mentioned.

Let's hope that this changes in the coming week.