Drivers and Impacts of the Record-Breaking 2023 Wildfire Season in Canada
The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was unprecedented in its scale and intensity, spanning from mid-April to late October and across much of the forested regions of Canada. Here, we summarize the main causes and impacts of this exceptional season. The record-breaking total area burned (~15 Mha) can be attributed to several environmental factors that converged early in the season: early snowmelt, multiannual drought conditions in western Canada, and the rapid transition to drought in eastern Canada. Anthropogenic climate change enabled sustained extreme fire weather conditions, as the mean May-October temperature over Canada in 2023 was 2.2 °C warmer than the 1991-2020 average. The impacts were profound with more than 200 communities evacuated, millions exposed to hazardous air quality from smoke, and unmatched demands on fire-fighting resources. The 2023 wildfire season in Canada not only set new records, but highlights the increasing challenges posed by wildfires in Canada.
Authors
- John M. Little
- Dante Castellanos Acuna
- Ellen Whitman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4562-3645)
- Chelene C. Hanes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7742-7120)
- Mike Flannigan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9970-5363)
- Quinn E. Barber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0318-9446)
- Jack Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3764-1149)
- Kimberly Morrison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5868-3519)
- Martin P. Girardin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0436-7486)
- Piyush Jain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0471-4663)
- Yan Boulanger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6181-8509)
- Stephen Taylor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1633-3582)
- Dan K. Thompson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4937-8875)
- Peter Englefield
- Marc‐André Parisien (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8158-7434)
- Raphaël D. Chavardès (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4984-4023)
- Rob Skakun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3559-3606)
- Xianli Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9873-9767)
Institutions
- Canadian Forest Service (CA)
- Natural Resources Canada (CA)
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Thompson Rivers University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-08-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51154-7
- Citations
- 218
- Primary Topic
- Fire effects on ecosystems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 61.62
Funders
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- U.S. Forest Service
- Canadian Forest Service