2024 wildfire season is on track to be second largest in last two decades

Canada's wildfire season is heading for its second-highest on record in two decades, and last year alone saw the most fires, with a record 15 million hectares burned.

Above-average temperatures and drought conditions in some parts of Canada continue to fuel wildfire activity, federal officials said. So far, about 5.3 million hectares have burned, although they cautioned that this number is indicative.

Except for last year's fire season, only three other seasons have reported more than 5 million acres of fire, the last of which was in 1995, according to federal records.

With fire seasons starting earlier and ending later due to climate change, it's increasingly clear that Canada needs to shift from the concept of a fire season to the idea of ​​a continuous fire year, says Ian Boulanger, a research scientist at Natural Resources Canada.

Several of the last 10 years have been above the 25-year average for area burned, he said, largely due to more intense fire conditions and longer seasons caused by climate change.

At a news conference, officials said western Canada has been hit the hardest, with about 70 percent of the total area burned so far in British Columbia, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan.

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