Causes and Consequences of Canada’s Record-Breaking Wildfire Season

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has provided an overview of Canada’s unprecedented wildfire season and what it means for the future of the country’s forests.

Canada surpassed the record for its worst wildfire season in recorded history in terms of area burned back on June 27th, and some wildfires are still burning. The total area burned has now surpassed 18 million hectares (44,478,969 acres). That is 2.5 times the previous record set in 1995 and more than six times the average over the past 10 years.

What led to all of these wildfires? In short, it was exceptionally hot, experts told CBC. Across the globe, 2023 saw the hottest summer on record. The hot, dry weather in Canada, especially in northern regions, was ideal for wildfires. In Canada, approximately 50% of wildfires are caused by lightning, and the other 50% are caused by human activity.

“I would say we’ve crossed a tipping point,” Lori Daniels, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s department of forest and conservations sciences, told CBC. “This summer across Canada had been absolutely astounding in terms of wildfire. These are types of fires that I think will be ecosystem changing. It will take decades to centuries for those ecosystems to recover, if they recover, given the confounding influence of climate change.”

The dry, windy weather helped spread fires quickly, Daniels said, and in many cases, they burned for months. “Once a fire is burning under those hot, dry, windy conditions and gets momentum, it builds on that momentum. It generates its own energy. It generates its own weather system. And so that helps to maintain the high intensity.”