Climate change behind record-breaking wildfires in Canada, say scientists

A new scientific analysis published Tuesday (August 22) said that man-made climate change is the reason behind 2023's severe and months-long "fire weather" conditions that led to Canada's record-breaking blazes.

A report titled - "Climate change more than doubled the likelihood of extreme fire weather conditions in Eastern Canada" - published by the World Weather Attribution group found that over the year, fire-prone conditions were 50 per cent more intense as a result of global warming. 

The study mentioned that Canada has experienced its warmest May-June period since 1940, beating the previous record set in 1998 by a huge margin (0.8°C) and at the national scale, relative humidity was also very low. 

It also mentioned that the warm and dry conditions, together with continuous southeasterly winds fueled extensive fire in Alberta, British Columbia, central Saskatchewan and southwestern portions of the Northwest Territories. 

First author Clair Barnes, who is an environmental statistician at Imperial College London, told the news agency AFP, "As we continue to warm the planet, these kinds of events are going to get more frequent and they're going to get more intense." 

In Canada, at least four people have reportedly died and around 200,000 people have been evacuated. But as the situation is normalising, some evacuees have returned home amid a gruelling fight against wildfires. 

However, the impact of the wildfires appears to be long-lasting as the smoke from the burning forests has led to dangerous air pollution spreading across much of Canada and the United States to the south. 

The air quality has been impacted in Canada, and in the neighbouring United States with Air Quality Index (AQI) values frequently exceeding safe levels in the midwest and northeast USA. 

The British Columbia administration is planning to lift travel restrictions to the province's wildfire-hit interior. The travel measures restricted non-essential movement in the province's interior, including Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops and were due to expire at midnight. The measure will remain in place for West Kelowna. 

West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund told a news conference: "I really am beginning to feel like we're turning the corner here on this fire." 

"...The efforts in partnership with the federal government, with First Nations and others on recovery, has started already," British Columbia Premier David Eby told a news conference in West Kelowna. 

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