Plus, as CBS News previously reported, harsh weather conditions in Canada are fueling the fires and making it harder for firefighters to combat the flames.Īs of its most recent update, the interagency fire center has recorded 4,241 wildfires since the beginning of 2023. Political leaders, including President Biden, and environmental experts have pointed to the causal link between rising temperatures driven by climate change, as well as drought, and the extreme wildfire season that Canada is experiencing now. The broad extent of the fires - from the westernmost provinces to the eastern ones - is unusual, particularly so early in the year, Canadian government officials have said.

But with the season occurring annually from May until October, devastation seen from the outset this year put the country almost immediately on track for its worst season in more than 30 years. Wildfire season typically happens around this time of year in Canada, which is home to about 9% of the world's forests.

To the east, Alberta had the second-highest number of active blazes with 126 while Quebec, which borders New England, had 106. Officials on Wednesday reported 374 active fires in British Columbia, along Canada's west coast. Eastern provinces like Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia have been hit particularly hard this year by large and at times uncontrollable blazes. Climate change is making forest fires more severe 24:24Ĭanada is experiencing its most destructive wildfire season on record, as hundreds of blazes burning from coast to coast continue to send tremendous plumes of smoke into the atmosphere - and over the U.S.Ī map updated daily by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre shows how widespread the wildfires have become.

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