British Columbia Wildfires Generate Record Emissions for May

“Following the highly impactful wildfires that burned across Canada in 2023, the scale and intensity of the current fires in British Columbia is highly concerning so early in the season,” said Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) senior scientist Mark Parrington.

—

The emissions generated by wildfires in British Columbia, Canada, so far this month are at the highest levels compared to any May on record.

According to data by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), from May 1 to 15, wildfires in Canada generated a total of 15 megatonnes of carbon, one of the highest of the past 22 years of CAMS data set. British Columbia accounted for over 12 megatonnes, surpassing twice the previous highest recorded in May 2023.

Fires broke out in Western Canada earlier this month, prompting the evacuation of thousands of residents in British Columbia and neighboring Alberta.

A total of 122 fires were burning in the country as of 9pm on Thursday, of which 45 were in British Columbia and 42 in Alberta, according to a tally by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). 32 fires were considered out of control.

“Following the highly impactful wildfires that burned across Canada in 2023, the scale and intensity of the current fires in British Columbia is highly concerning so early in the season,” said CAMS senior scientist Mark Parrington. “The scale of the ongoing fires, and their impacts on local communities and the atmosphere, underscore the urgent need for continuous monitoring and assessment.”

In a statement released last week, the federal government said warm and dry conditions in most of the country, partly fuelled by the El Niño weather pattern, could “exacerbate the risk and intensity of both natural and human-caused wildfires.”

“As we can expect with climate change, most parts of Canada have experienced warmer and drier spring conditions so far, with the added influence this year of El Niño. Drought conditions are expected to persist in high-risk regions in May, including the southern regions of the prairie and western provinces.”

So far this year, Canada has experienced 1,039 wildfires that have burned 1,773,128 hectares (about 4,381,494 acres) of land, according to the CIFFC.

A Record-Breaking Year

Last year, Canada endured its most devastating fire season on record, with nearly 6,600 blazes burning across 45 million acres – 5% of the entire forest area of Canada and roughly seven times the annual average – and affecting 230,000 people.

According to the CAMS, 2023 wildfires in the country emitted almost 480 megatonnes of carbon, almost five-times the average for the past 20 years, with toxic smoke reaching as far as the US East Coast. Fire-related emissions in Canada last year accounted for 23% of the total global wildfire carbon emissions.

Speaking at a conference last month, Canadian minister for emergency preparedness Harjit Sajjan warned of potentially longer and “more explosive” wildfire season. “The temperature trends are very concerning. With the heat and dryness across the country, we can expect that the wildfire season will start sooner and end later and potentially be more explosive,” Sajjan said.

Climate change has increased the wildfire season by roughly two weeks on average globally, mostly by enhancing the availability of fuel through heat and dry conditions.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons.