Canada is living the second worst season of the fires in its history: the new standard? | Forest lights in Canada

It is the equivalent of the area of New Brunswick which left for smokeillustrious Mike Flannigan, professor specializing in forest fires at Thompson Rivers, British Columbia.

This expert, who has been studying fires since the 1970s, says he has never observed three bad consecutive seasons, which has been the case for three years.

I saw two in a row in 1994 and 1995, but never three. It’s frightening.

According to data from the Interservices Center for Canada Forest lights (CIFFC), which dates back to 1972, the last three seasons are all among the ten worst registered in the country.

On their own, Manitoba (2.2 million hectares) and Saskatchewan (2.5 million hectares) represent more than half of the area burned so far.

Experts, like Mike Flannigan, say that climate change leads to longer seasons and drier landscapes.

I used to say that some years are cooler and damplet, and that we would then have quieter seasons. But maybe now, every year will be worsehe notes.

The dry weather prevailing all over the country has enabled fires to gain momentum this season.

Canada forests are too dry and too hotobserves David Phillips, climatologist at Environment Canada.

This year, there is no respite from what we have known.

A danger that spreads

British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario also display areas burned well above their average of the last 25 years.

Consequently, several provinces have established prohibitions of fires, including a total ban on entering the woods in Nova Scotia (new window).

If the eastern country had been relatively spared at the start of the season, Newfoundland and Labrador has become the most recent province to ask for the army to fight against forest fires (new window).

An unusual situation for this region, which is generally not confronted with fires of such magnitude, underlines Yan Boulanger, researcher in forest ecology with Natural Resources Canada.

A notable exception this year is Quebec, which had however been one of the provinces most affected by the fires in 2023.

Thanks to frequent precipitation in spring and early summer, the province had a much milder season, explains Yan Boulanger.

However, a sudden episode of drought in August (new window)a month usually calm for Quebec in terms of fires, prompted experts to recommend vigilance.

When the forest no longer pushes

Seasons of particularly intense and close forest fires can have heavy long -term consequences.

Fire is part of the natural cycle of many species of trees, recalls Yan Boulanger, a researcher affiliated with Natural Resources Canada.

But it warns that a forest can be damaged to the point that the trees can no longer repel for years, even decades.

This phenomenon, known asRegeneration failure is already observed in Quebec regions seriously affected in 2023, as well as in certain areas of the Northwest and Alberta territories.

Currently, between 300,000 and 400,000 hectares in Quebec are concerned.

A call to a national response to the lights

According to Professor Mike Flannigan, such periods of destruction require major measures.

He hopes that the government will set up a national emergency management agency, capable of ensuring training in the fight against forest fires and predicting fires likely to represent a threat.

Yes, it will cost money, but if it avoids a single jasper, one strong McMurray, we win there he explains, in reference to Albertan communities ravaged in recent years by fires.

According to him, the status quo does not work. We spend billions and billions of dollars for fire management, but the burned area has quadrupled since the 1970s he underlines.

With information from Alexandra Mae Jones