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Articles on Forest fires

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The combined impact of increasing temperatures (2 to 8°C by 2100) and forest development in the mixed boreal forest could modify the growth and distribution of temperate species. (Shutterstock)

Québec’s hardwood trees could move north. Here’s how that could affect the boreal forest landscape

Research shows that the distribution of temperate hardwoods (sugar maple, red maple and yellow birch) could be shifting northward, which would have serious consequences for the boreal forest.
Forest fires were mostly started by lightning. Their spread was then exacerbated by a lack of precipitation and abnormally high temperatures. (Victor Danneyrolles)

Québec’s summer 2023 wildfires were the most devastating in 50 years. Is the worst yet to come?

The forest fires of the summer of 2023 in Québec were devastating. It was the worst year in 50 years. But with climate change, the worst may be yet to come.
Decisions made by those in charge of wildfire response can have a major impact on how quickly the fire is contained. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Joining forces: How collaboration can help tackle Canada’s escalating wildfire threat

Effective collaboration may be a key to minimizing impacts of the growing wildfire season in Canada.
Smoke rising from an active fire in the Northwest Territories. (Sander Veraverbeke)

‘Zombie fires’ are occurring more frequently in boreal forests, but their impacts remain uncertain

Zombie fires smoulder through the winter and reignite in the early spring. How these fires behave is not well understood, but they can contribute to an earlier and longer fire season.
What strategies are the best to make forests more resilient and better adapted to new climate conditions? (Claude Villeneuve)

Can the boreal forest be used to concretely fight climate change?

Can planting trees help us solve the climate crisis? Probably, but to what extent?
The Bald Mountain Wildfire in the Grande Prairie area in Alberta in May 2023. Much of B.C. and Alberta is already experiencing higher-than-usual wildfire risk. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Government of Alberta Fire Service

As we fight the Alberta and B.C. wildfires, we must also plan for future disasters

High-risk, high-uncertainty events like earthquakes tend to fall out of view when we are occupied with more predictable seasonal events like wildfires, which have very visible effects on our lives.
In North America, log driving is thought to have stopped by the end of the 20th century, with the exception of British Columbia, where it is still practised on a small scale. (Shutterstock)

What log driving can teach us about forests, past and present

Logging over the past two centuries has had a major impact on Québec’s forests. The traces it has left will guide the adoption of sustainable forest management techniques.
Satellite image of a forest fire in July 2021 in northern Saskatchewan (Wapawekka Hills). The image covers an area of about 56 kilometres in width and is based on Copernicus Sentinel data. (Pierre Markuse), CC BY 2.0

Forest fires: North America’s boreal forests are burning a lot, but less than 150 years ago

North America’s boreal forests have been burning a lot, probably more and more over the past 60 years. Yet the long-term trend indicates that they are burning less than they were 150 years ago.
Fires are increasing in high mountain areas that rarely burned in the past. John McColgan, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska Fire Service

Fire danger in the high mountains is intensifying: That’s bad news for humans, treacherous for the environment

Fires here can affect meltwater timing and water quality, worsen erosion that triggers mudslides, and much more, as two scientists explain.
Hotter-burning fires and a warming climate make it harder for seedlings to survive. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The West’s iconic forests are increasingly struggling to recover from wildfires – altering how fires burn could boost their chances

Over 50 fire ecologists across the Western U.S. took an unprecedented look at how forests in thousands of locations are recovering from fire in a changing climate. The results were alarming.

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