The record-breaking and destructive forest fires of the summer of 2023 made headlines. But how did they affect the millions of lakes in the burned catchment areas?
A wildfire forced thousands to leave their homes in and around Fort Nelson, B.C., in May 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship
Canada’s 2024 wildfire season will likely be even more severe than the unprecedented fires of 2023. Being aware of the risks, and taking some sensible precautions, can help keep you safe.
All the evidence – colonial accounts and records, First Peoples’ testimony and scientific data – points to the existence of widespread tall, dense forests 250 years ago.
A wildfire burns a section of forest in the Grande Prairie district of Alberta.
(Government of Alberta Fire Service/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
Current greenhouse gas inventories in Canada only consider “managed” lands. This must change before we can truly understand the scale of Canada’s carbon emissions.
People walk through the COP28 UN Climate Summit on Dec. 6, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Carbon capture and sequestration can play a role in limiting warming but the nuances of its application are far more complicated than just planting trees. Getting it wrong could make warming worse.
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)
Maxence Soubeyrand, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) e Fabio Gennaretti, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
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)
Dorian M. Gaboriau, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT); Jonathan Lesven, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT); Victor Danneyrolles, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) e Yves Bergeron, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
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.
Vehicles line-up for fuel at Fort Providence, N.W.T., on the only road south from Yellowknife, Aug. 17, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Social media has been vital for disseminating information during crises, but with Facebook’s ban of news in Canada, old-school media, especially radio, is critically important.
A flaming peatland fire in Alberta, Canada.
(Greg Verkaik)
Peatlands safely store hundreds to thousands of years’ worth of humanity’s toxic legacy but climate change and physical disturbances are putting these pollution vaults, and us, at risk.
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
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)
Claude Villeneuve, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Charles Marty, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Maxime Paré, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) e Patrick Faubert, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)
Can planting trees help us solve the climate crisis? Probably, but to what extent?
Many insects are attracted to wildfires and lay their eggs in the tissues of fire-killed trees.
(Aaron Bell)
Fires in Canada have sent smoke across several US states, leaving cities including New York, Chicago and Denver with some of the worst air quality in the world – even far from the flames.
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
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)
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
Victor Danneyrolles, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC); Raphaël Chavardès, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) e Yves Bergeron, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT)
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.