In an interview with The Weather Network, Mike Flannigan, wildfire researcher and professor, said Canada is seeing a surge in wildfires with the country’s burned areas quadrupling since the early 1970s.
Fort McMurray, Alta., wildfire in May 2016. (Jude Groves/Submitted to The Weather Network)
“[Three per cent] of our fires [are responsible for] 97 per cent of our area burned. So, [it’s] the tail wagging the dog. My colleagues and I attribute this largely, but not solely, to human-caused climate change. I can’t be clearer than that,” said Flannigan.
Tyler Hamilton, a meteorologist at The Weather Network, said “the fingerprints” of climate change have been popping up in Canada, especially with the Alberta heat wave in 2016.
“It’s those extreme events that are so far out of the realm of the bell curve. That is something we’re going to watch long-range across the country, as well as this clash between this climate, which is really altered. The odds of these extreme weather events and these large fires are growing across Canada,” said Hamilton.
Downtown Fort McMurray, Alta. (Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo/Submitted to The Weather Network)