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Report Finds Canada’s 2023 Wildfires Released Emissions Equivalent to Nearly a Decade’s Worth – EcoWatch

Unprecedented Wildfires in Canada and Amazonia: A Climate Change Crisis

Aerial view of a wildfire at Tatkin Lake in British Columbia, Canada on July 10, 2023. BC Wildfire Service / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Last year’s wildfires in Canada set a new record, producing almost a decade’s worth of greenhouse gas emissions from wildfires in just one season. A recent study co-led by the University of East Anglia (UEA), the United Kingdom’s Met Office, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) found that climate change made the unprecedented wildfires in Canada and parts of Amazonia at least three times more likely, resulting in approximately 2.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions – about one-fourth of the total wildfire emissions worldwide.

Lead author of the analysis, Dr. Matthew Jones, a research fellow with UEA’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, stated that wildfires are becoming more frequent and intense as the climate warms, causing significant harm to both society and the environment. The report revealed that wildfire carbon emissions were 16 percent above average globally, totaling 9.48 billion tons of carbon dioxide. Emissions from Canadian boreal forest fires were over nine times above the average for the last two decades, contributing nearly a quarter of worldwide emissions.

The Canadian wildfires led to the evacuation of more than 230,000 people and claimed the lives of eight firefighters. The wildfires in Amazonia resulted in one of the worst air quality readings on Earth. The loss of carbon stocks in South American tropical forests and Canadian boreal forests will have long-lasting effects on the climate, as forests take decades to centuries to rejuvenate after a fire, leading to a prolonged lack of carbon storage.

The study’s climate models indicated that extreme wildfires will become more intense and frequent by 2100, particularly in high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. Dr. Douglas Kelley, UKCEH senior fire scientist, emphasized the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage vegetation to mitigate the risk and impacts of severe wildfires on society and ecosystems.

The report highlighted that human activities such as deforestation for agricultural expansion amplified the effects of climate change on wildfire risk in Amazonia. Dr. Chantelle Burton, Met Office senior climate scientist, stressed the importance of understanding how climate change is affecting fires to anticipate future changes.

Forecasts for the 2024-25 fire season indicated continued above-average probability of fire weather conditions in parts of South and North America, with favorable wildfire conditions in regions like the Brazilian Pantanal, British Columbia, Alberta, and California. Dr. Francesca Di Giuseppe, ECMWF senior scientist, expressed surprise at the extensive Arctic fires witnessed recently, signaling the need for further investigation.

The report, titled “State of Wildfires 2023-2024,” was published in the journal Earth System Science Data. Dr. Jones emphasized the long-term impacts of last year’s fires, urging collective concern and action to address the growing threat of wildfires exacerbated by climate change.

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