Back to Search
Start Over
Drivers and Impacts of the Record-Breaking 2023 Wildfire Season in Canada.
Drivers and Impacts of the Record-Breaking 2023 Wildfire Season in Canada.
- 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