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Too much rain in summer? Blame global warming.

Too little rain? Blame global warming.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or David Staples: What created the Fort McMurray wildfire? El Niño, scientist says Back to video

Heck, even if there’s a chinook in January in southern Alberta, blame global warming.

Just ask actor Leonardo di Caprio.

It was no surprise then when a wildfire raged in the oilsands city of Fort McMurray, the first response from many was to blame global warming. But climate scientist Paul Roundy of the University at Albany in New York state says global warming wasn’t the main culprit in the Fort McMurray wildfire.

Instead, Roundy blames El Niño, a weather phenomenon that’s been around for ages.

El Niño events come every two to seven years, based on fluctuations in the surface temperature of the Pacific Ocean around the equator. The latest event started early last summer and has been massive. “By some measures it was the strongest ever recorded,” Roundy says.

One major impact has been to create conditions leading to warmer and drier weather in Western Canada, especially in the key month of April, creating conditions perfect for wildfires. “It’s been clear that in general this kind of impact has been in the making since last summer,” Roundy said of the Fort McMurray wildfire.