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Drivers and Impacts of the Record-Breaking 2023 Wildfire Season in Canada.

Drivers and Impacts of the Record-Breaking 2023 Wildfire Season in Canada.

Authors :
Jain P
Barber QE
Taylor SW
Whitman E
Castellanos Acuna D
Boulanger Y
Chavardès RD
Chen J
Englefield P
Flannigan M
Girardin MP
Hanes CC
Little J
Morrison K
Skakun RS
Thompson DK
Wang X
Parisien MA
Source :
Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2024 Aug 20; Vol. 15 (1), pp. 6764. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 20.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was unprecedented in its scale and intensity, spanning from mid-April to late October and across much of the forested regions of Canada. Here, we summarize the main causes and impacts of this exceptional season. The record-breaking total area burned (~15 Mha) can be attributed to several environmental factors that converged early in the season: early snowmelt, multiannual drought conditions in western Canada, and the rapid transition to drought in eastern Canada. Anthropogenic climate change enabled sustained extreme fire weather conditions, as the mean May-October temperature over Canada in 2023 was 2.2 °C warmer than the 1991-2020 average. The impacts were profound with more than 200 communities evacuated, millions exposed to hazardous air quality from smoke, and unmatched demands on fire-fighting resources. The 2023 wildfire season in Canada not only set new records, but highlights the increasing challenges posed by wildfires in Canada.<br /> (© 2024. Crown.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2041-1723
Volume :
15
Issue :
1
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Nature communications
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
39164286
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51154-7