Canada’s raging fires have burned an area larger than Greece
Wildfires continue to rage in Canada, burning twice as much land as any previous season, an area equivalent to Alabama or nine Connecticuts. The blazes have charred nearly 33 million acres (13.3 million hectares) across the country, with hundreds of large fires still burning.
The situation is not improving. Fires from coast-to-coast have stretched firefighting forces thin, requiring help from the Canadian military. Several massive conflagrations in the Northwest Territories have imperiled a number of towns and forced evacuations, while scorching homes and threatening the capital of Yellowknife.
Canada’s national wildfire preparedness scale, which measures the need for firefighting resources, has been stuck at Level 5 out of 5 since May 11, shortly after the first barrage of blazes erupted. Over the past three months, it has become a fight akin to whack-a-mole: As soon as one major fire is knocked back, another appears in a different location.
Record-challenging heat — intensified by human-caused climate change — has combined with long-term drought to fuel the flames. [Continue reading…]