Record start to the wildfire season in Canada

Record start to the wildfire season in Canada

Wildfire season is off to an unprecedented start in Canada, with large fires spiraling out of control in many parts of the country, from British Columbia and Alberta in the west, to the Northwest Territories and Yukon in the far north, to Quebec and Nova Scotia in the east. Fires are also raging in Ontario, the most populous province in the country.

In this aerial photo, an airplane, center, flies over a wildfire burning near Lake Barrington in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, Wednesday, May 31, 2023. [AP Photo/Communications Nova Scotia/The Canadian Press]

Data from Canada’s Wildland Fire Information System shows that more than 3 million hectares burned across the country during the first week of June, nearly 12 times the 10-year average at this point in the fire season and almost as much as the 2021 fire. Season until October. In recent years, wildfire season in Canada didn’t actually start until July, so this year’s fires are more than a month ahead of the usual forecast. Big fires were already Rabies in Alberta (English article) During the first weeks of May.

There is growing evidence that climate change caused by capitalism is dramatically increasing the severity and extent of wildfires across the country due to higher temperatures, drier conditions and the infestation of Ponderosa pine beetles in western Canada. This phenomenon affects isolated rural communities, including poor First Nations reservations, as well as major urban centers, and extends Canada’s firefighting resources far beyond its borders.

The onset of El Niño weather is expected to bring higher temperatures and drier weather in western Canada through the end of the year, which means conditions will remain favorable for hatching eggs, as well as widespread fires.

As of Sunday, 413 fires were burning across the country and more than 26,000 people were under evacuation orders in Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Saskatchewan.

Smoke from the fires has significantly worsened air quality across the country, including the capital, Ottawa, where air quality has reached a score of over 10 on Environment Canada’s Air Quality Health Index. This is the highest possible level above which outdoor activities are dangerous. The United States also felt the impact of the fires, as smoke reached the Midwest and New England on Monday and Tuesday.

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Hundreds of firefighters from outside the province and internationally have been mobilized to fight the fires, including 443 from the United States, Australia and New Zealand and 200 from South Africa. French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron has pledged that his government will deploy 100 wildfire specialists to Canada. Water bombers and helicopters from Montana helped put out fires in Nova Scotia on Sunday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also deployed 200 members of the Canadian Armed Forces to help fight fires in Quebec, after deploying 300 personnel to Alberta for firefighting missions last month.

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