The scale of Canadian forest fires has not gone unnoticed this year: almost a quarter of carbon emissions burned in 2023 come from Canada, according to data from the European Union climate observatory Copernicus.
Canada experienced an exceptional fire season on several levels: not only did the country break its record for hectares burned, numbered at approximately 18.5 million, but it also broke its record for carbon emissions. The fires here released 478 megatons of burned carbon into the atmosphere, according to an analysis by Duty data from the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service.
This corresponds to approximately 23% of global carbon emissions emitted by forest fires in 2023, the observatory announced Tuesday. These global emissions are estimated at around 2100 megatons.
British Columbia, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Quebec were the provinces and territories most affected by the blazes. This year they also have record emissions from forest fires. These four regions alone accounted for almost 87% of the country’s fire emissions.
These fires of exceptional scale were covered around the world in the media, but also had an impact on the climate of certain regions. Skies reddened by smoke left their mark in several Canadian cities, but also in the United States. As a result, air quality was severely impacted during the summer in North America. Smoke from Canadian fires even crossed the Atlantic, weighing on the skies of parts of Europe.
Elsewhere in the world
Canada is not the only country that has been particularly affected by the embers this year. In Europe, Greece has quickly become the epicenter of the region’s wildfires, with nearly 175,000 hectares burned nationwide, according to Copernicus. This corresponds to approximately four times the average for the years 2006 to 2022.
In South America, Chile, struggling with high temperatures coupled with a particularly dry climate, saw its forests burn down last February, killing 26 people and injuring at least 1,000. More than 270,000 hectares were affected. Argentina also saw a more intense fire season than normal at the start of the year.
The Hawaiian island of Maui also experienced extreme wildfires in August. The town of Lahaina was completely ravaged by the flames, which claimed at least 98 lives.