Environmental Issues

Fire drives Canadas forest ecosystem. Intense wildfires burning through thousands of square kilometers of Canadas forests each summer are common, characterizing the Canadian landscape and impacting the lives of people who live around the forests. Every year around 8500 fires are reported in Canada (Natural Resources Canada). Forest fires in Canada are caused primarily (almost two-thirds) by humans, and one-third by lightning. Fire renews the forest, helping to maintain the biodiversity of the forest. However, this beneficial quality is overshadowed by the damage that is caused by these fires. The fires destroy millions of dollars worth of property, cause economic hardship and endanger public safety.

The potential for fire is dependent on fuel moisture and other environmental and atmospheric conditions that are affected by rising temperatures. Despite skeptical claims to the contrary, there is sufficient scientific data to illustrate that the earths climate has become warmer over the last few hundred years, and that this has been accelerated over the past couple of decades. Whilst the changing climate is already creating environmental changes in many spheres, it is also predicted to adversely impact the occurrence of forest fires in Canada in the future. Westerling et al show in their study of wildfires in the US and Canada that warmer temperatures are increasing the duration and intensity of the wildfire season (2006). These changes in temperature can thus impact not only current wildfire damage, but future damage, by increasing in intensity with the increasing temperature.

Traditionally, the areas that have been at the highest risk level for forest fires are the southern Prairies, southern British Columbia and the north-western parts of the Northwest Territories, due to the fuel moisture and other environmental conditions in those areas (Natural Resources Canada). Projected Forest Fire Severity Level maps created by the Canadian Forest Service show that the high risk area is to expand to include the central and northern parts of the Prairies, north-eastern British Columbia, and south-central Yukon. This finding is based on data on global warming for the period 2050 to 2059. The impact from the warming can include more frequent and severe fires, shorter growth periods between fires, and a decrease in the carbon storage of northern Canadian forests. Natural Resources Canada also predicts that by 2090, the high risk area for severe forest fires will expand to north-western Ontario, whilst including the central and northern parts of the Prairies, north-eastern British Columbia, and south-central Yukon.

These are only some of the possible negative effects on the forest fires as a result of climate change and steadily increasing temperatures. Wildfire emissions also contain high levels of greenhouse gases, which can further increase the impact of climate change, in turn fueling more forest fires, thus creating a vicious cycle. As scientific research is advancing, further effects of climate change on Canadas forest fires would be discovered.