Climate Change Made This Summer’s Canadian Wildfires Twice as Likely
Wildfires in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and the Northwest Territories have burned more than 3.9 million hectares this summer, prompted widespread evacuation orders, and created poor air quality for not only Canadians, but more than 120 million people across the midwestern and northeastern United States. The fires spread exceptionally quickly, stressing the resources of local response…
Climate change made this summer's Canadian wildfires twice as likely, according to a new analysis by World Weather Attribution. Wildfires in Ontario and the Northwest Territories have burned over 3.9 million hectares, causing widespread evacuations and poor air quality for millions. The researchers analyzed the Daily Severity Rating (DSR), a measure of fire weather, and determined that the extreme conditions experienced in July were made about twice as likely by climate change.
In a world without human-induced climate change, such fire weather would have been expected only once every 40 years, but in our warming world, similar events are now expected to occur every 2-6 years in Ontario and every 6-15 years in the Northwest Territories. The increasing frequency of destructive fires puts vulnerable communities at risk, particularly Indigenous communities, who are overrepresented in fire-prone areas.
Written by urgent.news from Eos's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 1 other outlet
- Study shows climate change made Canadian wildfires twice as likely freemalaysiatoday.com
