Canada’s Wildfires: Climate Change or Human Actions?

The fires spreading across Canada are growing increasingly worse each day. The air quality has worsened, and thousands of people have been evacuated.

This wildfire season could be the worst ever for Canada as the current spread continues to eat up various areas of wilderness. These fires are making some experts consider that these fires could be the result of global warming and climate change. The added carbon pollution creates a challenging environment that could take years for Canada to bounce back from if these fires are ever brought under control.

Is global warming creating a fire-friendly environment?

It’s not a secret that air quality and pollution have contributed to smog issues around the world, but Canada hasn’t typically been part of the conversation. Much of this northern country is still unexplored wilderness which often allows it to avoid the conversation of smog and air pollution, but Canada is not immune. Any area where dry, hot, and windy conditions are present makes it more likely that fires can take hold and become a serious problem. This can include some areas of Canada, which we’ve already witnessed. This could mean that global warming is to blame for the current fires.

Should we blame climate change for the current fires spreading across Canada?

There are several factors that bring wildfires to life. An increase in greenhouse gasses is only one element of creating an environment in which wildfires can arise, live, and thrive in a particular area. Other factors include the short-term weather of the forested area and what people are doing to these forests. More often than not, spreading fires are the result of careless campers in dry areas, which make it easy for these fires to get started and grow beyond control.

Does Canada have wildfires every year?

Here in the United States, we mostly concern ourselves with the fires that plague California every year, but Canada has a wildfire season as well. Typically, these fires spread in the western part of the country, much like American wildfires. Since 1959 wildfires have been an annual event, with 2017 being the last time a record number of acres of land burned was recorded. Some studies show that climate change has a strong influence on increasing the detriment felt by these wildfires, especially when warm and dry conditions are present. This year is already breaking the 2017 records.

Is human development to blame for these fires?

Canada isn’t so different from the United States. Most of us can look around our hometowns and see project developments of new homes and apartment buildings going up all the time. Some of us are glad for the expansion and a growing population, while others understand that added development and expansion is detrimental to the environment and natural areas of the world. The same goes for Canada, where human development has expanded into areas not before developed. Moving infrastructure into new areas can certainly be a contributing factor in the spread of wildfires.

Can planned burns be part of the problem?

Most forested areas experience planned burns with controls that regularly clear the undergrowth in a forest which is meant to reduce the risk of larger fires. These controlled burns have never been the source of wildfires and cannot be blamed for the current rash of fires spreading across Canada. Because of the severity of the wildfires, these planned burns have been stopped in much of the country. The current fires are creating a problematic environment, which means the controlled burns would only add to the problem instead of being small, isolated fires that are under control.

Has Canada changed policies, leading to the problem?

In recent years, many forestry experts have suggested that fire suppression isn’t always required when a fire begins. In some cases, fires are left to burn in areas where they aren’t immediately have an impact on peoples’ lives or property. Another contributor to the spread of wildfires is the recent planting of more commercial but less fire-tolerant tree species. This means fires can spread more easily, making it much easier for a fire to cross a forest and make it to another part of the country, which is much of what we see with these fires in Canada.

Although climate change and global warming contribute to the spread of fires in Canada, these aren’t the only factors at play. There’s a strong human element to these fires with increased carbon emissions, greenhouse gasses, expanded development, and the planting of trees that burn more easily.