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Human-driven climate crisis fuels Canada’s deadly wildfires, study finds
Current blazes roaring across country more than twice as likely to occur because of fossil fuel-driven global heating
TL;DR
- Human-driven climate crisis made Canadian wildfires twice as likely.
- Global temperatures amplified the risk of fire-prone weather due to fossil fuel burning.
- Fire weather conditions are now expected every two to six years in the Northwest Territories and six to 15 years in Ontario.
- Without human-caused global heating, such extreme fire conditions would occur less than once every 40 years.
- Experts warn adaptation alone is insufficient and rapid transition away from fossil fuels is necessary.
- Former President Donald Trump incorrectly blamed Canada for not controlling fires.
- Most of Canada's boreal forest is unmanaged and affected by global emissions, with the US as the historic largest emitter.