Canadian forests are increasingly prepared for serious and uncontrollable events. forest firessays a study released Thursday, highlighting what the authors describe as an urgent need to proactively mitigate the “increased threat posed by climate change.”
The study carried out by Canadian researchers, published in peer-reviewed journal Scienceexamined fire severity in Canada from 1981 to 2020.
“Widespread increases, as well as limited decreases, in the number of intense burning days between 1981 and 2020 indicate an increasingly severe fire situation and a more challenging fire season in the context of climate change in Canada,” the study indicates.
Co-author Xianli Wang, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, says there were on average two more days of high-severity fires between 2000 and 2020, compared to the previous two decades. In some areas it was closer to five days.
While it may not seem like much, last summer’s devastating wildfires in Jasper, Alberta grew to about 60 square kilometers in a matter of hours.
“This is just a more dramatic fire situation than we are currently experiencing,” he said.
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Regarding the geographic distribution of severe wildfires, Wang said the results suggest Canada’s record-breaking 2023 season was not an aberration, but a “glimpse into the future.”
“You’ll see this kind of high-severity burn across the board,” Wang said.
The study suggests that the main environmental driver of fire severity was dry fuel, such as twigs and leaves, while the effect of weather – such as hot, dry and windy conditions – was more pronounced in regions of the north.
The results, according to the study, demonstrate “the crucial role that drought plays” in the severity of a fire.
As climate change lengthens the fire season, the study says spring and fall have added more high-severity burning days in recent decades. These increases coincided with regions that also experienced the harshest summer months.
“Most of the time we think that only summer fires are more serious – they burn higher flames, they destroy everything – but in spring it’s not so bad. This is no longer the case,” Wang said.
The largest increase in burning days was recorded in an area covering northern Quebec and an area covering the Northwest Territories, northwest Alberta and northeast British Columbia .
Both of these regions are home to extensive conifers. Areas with lower burn days were primarily in southern hardwood and mixed forests, the study found.
Severity is a measure of the amount of damage a fire causes to vegetation and the forest floor. Although fire is a natural part of the ecosystem, Wang said severe fires can in some cases burn so deep and deep into the ground that they destroy seeds stored in the soil, affecting forest regeneration. .
According to the study, the findings could help decision-makers choose the best times and locations for prescribed burns – planned, controlled fires intended to support natural regeneration – while reducing fire risks for neighboring communities.
© 2025 The Canadian Press