What is really causing the raging wildfires in Canada? It’s not

Global Courant

Experts warn Canada is heading for a more severe year of wildfires.

So far tens of thousands of people have been evacuated and government data shared Monday showed 413 fires burning in several counties and the north as of Sunday afternoon. About 26,206 people are under evacuation orders in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Northwest Territories.

Cities in eastern North America are currently being hit by hazy smoke and poor air quality, as wildfires burn in provinces like Quebec and Nova Scotia.

While wildfire seasons are predictable in the warmer months throughout Western Canada, this season has started earlier than usual, and in places not typically known for such events.

While it seems obvious to blame climate change for these extreme conditions, an expert clarifies that there are more factors at play.

RELATED: What You Need to Know Now About Canada’s Wildfires

What Causes Wildfires?

Traffic moves in New York on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, amid a smoky haze of wildfires across Canada. Smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the U.S. East Coast and Midwest on Wednesday, blanketing both countries’ capitals in an unhealthy haze, halting flights at major airports and prompting people to fish out pandemic-era face masks. (AP Photo/Andy Bao)

Kent Moore, a physics professor at the University of Toronto, says wildfires are a regular occurrence, especially in the west. In general, fires have been an “out of sight, out of mind” situation, especially when they don’t affect populated regions. However, when thousands of people are displaced, like the 2016 Fort McMurray fires, people start to pay attention.

“What we’re seeing right now, especially in Nova Scotia, is there’s a fire on the edge of a metropolitan area and people need to evacuate,” he told Yahoo News Canada. “It is different from what we normally see. Plus, the poor air quality across most of Eastern North America from the fires in Quebec, you’re feeling the impact.

There are a few reasons why fires start in the first place. They are usually ignited as a result of lightning strikes, combined with dry conditions, or they are started by humans or human activities, such as an ATV running over grass or the spark from an engine.

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It’s not all climate change: fires in the east and west have different causes

In the western counties, there was an early spring heat wave, which is rare, and Moore says it’s an indication that the climate is changing.

While we focus on the temperature, the seasons also change, so spring is now coming sooner than before. One of the challenges is that the ecosystem, plants and animals, have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to expect a certain type of climate. They expect spring to come at a certain time of the year, and if spring comes earlier, then the vegetation hasn’t caught up yet.Kent Moore, professor of physics at the University of Toronto

Western Canada’s early spring came when the vegetation in the forest had not yet turned green, resulting in more fuel contributing to the wildfires.

In Nova Scotia, very dry conditions lead to increased burning. Moore explains that when a fire breaks out in the spring, usually only the surface burns because the ground is still wet, even when the vegetation is dry.

Because the soil was so dry from the winter and spring, fires broke out in the province, leading to more organic matter burning in the soil.

“Those are much harder to put out because you have to dig up the dirt to get to the fire,” Moore explains. “That’s typically what you’d find in the summer fire season, when things tend to be drier.”

Quebec is experiencing a similar situation, with a dry climate leading to more fires. As a result, Moore does not believe the fires in the eastern provinces are a direct result of climate change, but rather a dry season.

“There’s just natural variability,” he says. “Some wells are dry and some wells are wet.”

How climate change plays a role

That’s not to say that climate change isn’t a factor. Moore says the planet has warmed by 1 degree on average — at northern latitudes it’s probably closer to 2 to 4 degrees, leading to warmer conditions that contribute to wildfires.

“Wildfires like heat. They like dry hot conditions,” he says. “So if the average has warmed by 4 degrees, the extremes have probably increased by double. Extreme temperatures will be 8 degrees higher than in the past and these extreme conditions could fuel and help these fires spread.”

In addition, there is a risk of expansion of developments where we have chosen to live. For example, if a floodplain is built on, then an evacuation as a result of a flood is part of that reality. The same goes for fires.

“If you choose to live in an area that’s forested, there’s the potential for a fire and you have to deal with that,” says Moore.

What we consider extreme conditions also continue to evolve and intensify. What was extreme weather 30 years ago is considered more normal today. And that’s important to consider when building infrastructure.

“Bridges built to withstand a 100-year event collapse, because a 100-year event is now a 20-year event,” says Moore.

We see the extremes getting more extreme and we need to harden our infrastructure to deal with the fact that extremes are getting more extreme. What used to be a normal situation is no longer. So we need to understand that it is also necessary to strengthen our infrastructure.Kent Moore, Professor of Physics, University of Toronto

What is really causing the raging wildfires in Canada? It’s not

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