Canada's unprecedented wildfires could soon get worse, experts say
- Media Manager
- Aug 21, 2023
- 1 min read
Yahoo!news
Written By: Stephanie Ebbs, Julia Jacobo, Daniel Manzo and Daniel Peck
Published: August 22nd, 2023
The historic wildfire season currently plaguing Canada is expected to persist, perhaps becoming even worse in the coming weeks – a potentially devastating forecast made more likely due to human-caused climate change, according to new research.
Drought and hot conditions contributed to an unprecedented start to the fire season in Canada and has kept the fires burning all over the country since late April says Kristina Dahl, senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. By June, the smoke emitted from the wildfires reached the highest amount ever recorded in the country.
The hot and dry conditions are expected to persist in the coming weeks, with forecasts in many regions calling for an above-average fire risk for the rest of August and through September, presenting the opportunity for the wildfires to continue at the current pace or even worsen, Dahl told ABC News.
As of Tuesday, more than 37.8 million total acres have been burned, an area nearly as large as the state of Georgia, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). There are more than 1,000 active wildfires burning in Canada, with more than 650 of them deemed "out of control," according to the agency.
"We're not anticipating this to ease up any time soon," Dahl said, describing the amount of inland area burned by wildfires this year as "off the charts."
