Canadian wildfires could last through the rest of the “marathon” summer

OTTAWA, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Record-breaking wildfires in Canada could potentially continue burning at an unusually high rate for several weeks, although the spread of the fires is expected to slow in September, according to federal forecasts released on Friday.

Wildfires have struck parts of nearly all of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories this year, forcing homes to be evacuated, energy production disrupted and federal and international firefighting resources stretched. Four firefighters died in action.

So far, about 134,000 square kilometers (52,000 square miles) of land have burned, more than six times a 10-year average, and nearly 168,000 people have been forced to evacuate at some point this season.

“This summer has shaped up to be a challenging marathon,” Canadian Forest Service official Michael Norton said at a media briefing on Friday.

“Our latest forecasts indicate that there remains a risk of above-average fire activity across much of Canada during August and September,” Norton said.

Norton said the simultaneous flare-up of fires across the country is “virtually unknown” and is largely due to drought conditions that will continue to worsen in some areas and contribute to continued fire activity through late summer.

“In September, we expect the potentially extremely vulnerable area to become somewhat smaller… (however) large existing fires will continue to burn or smolder and new problematic fires may emerge anywhere.”

The fires have also sent plumes of smoke across Canadian and U.S. skies, triggering health alarms and worrying scientists about the impact on the atmosphere.

The EU’s Copernicus atmospheric monitoring service estimated last week that Canadian wildfires have released 290 million tonnes of carbon, over 25% of the global total for 2023, and that emissions will continue to rise as hundreds of blazes continue to rage.

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