Canada may face wildfires worse than worst-ever 2023 inferno, government warns
File photo of Canadian oil hub of Fort McMurray under raging wildfires
Canada's emergency preparedness minister has warned that the north American country's wildfire season could be worse thanlast year, and that it could lead to unprecedented smoke conditions across the country as well as in the United States.
The country's climatic conditions have been dominated with persistent drought and months of above-average temperatures. Canada remains at the risk of repeating last year's devastating wildfires.
Also watch |Canada risks another 'catastrophic' wildfire season
"We can expect that the wildfire season will start sooner, end later and potentially be more explosive," Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan told a news conference.
The Canadian wildfire season runs from May through October.
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Canada wildfires: What happened in 2023?
The 2023 fire season was Canada's worst in recorded history. It burntmore than 15 million hectares and forced more than 230,000 people from their homes.
Smoke from the wildfires in Canada also poured into the US East Coast and Midwest last June.
Canada's potential wildfire season in 2024: What is the forecast?
According to a briefing document showing the forecast of the fire risk for the spring, the conditions are already ripe this year for an early and above-normal fire risk. The geographic lineage is all the way from Quebec to British Columbia in both April and May 2024.
Canadian Prairies have had a warmer than normal winter with minimal snow and widespread drought.
For April, May and June, there is also a high probability of above normal temperatures.
Human activity is the main contributing factor to the added risk for potential wildfire in the spring, according to Michael Norton, the director general of the Northern Forestry Centre at Natural Resources Canada.
This includes burning of residual crop stashes, fireworks as well as the heat from off-road vehicles igniting grass or other debris on the ground.
Often, lightning becomes a primary source of wildfires during the summer.