Canada’s 2023 wildfires, which blanketed large areas of the United States in smoke and haze, released more carbon emissions than all but three countries worldwide, according to research published yesterday.
Not only did fires burn through 4% of Canada’s forests, but they also generated more than 647 million metric tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere, quadrupling the emissions from fossil fuel consumption.
The study, Carbon emissions from the 2023 Canadian wildfires, published in Nature, found that China, the United States, and India—the three largest polluters—were the only countries producing as much carbon emissions as forests. For what it’s worth, Canada is the tenth emitter, producing just under 2% of global emissions.
Wood Central understands that boreal forests like those impacted by the fires have long been considered a major carbon sink. However, the study’s data reported that if a fire is big enough, the forests may not reliably absorb the damage.
Canada has almost 9% of global forests.
According to the Hill, 2023 was the hottest year on record, creating conditions like extreme heat, early snow melt and dry conditions that made it easier for forest fires to rage out of control in the first place – thus contributing to a feedback loop, the study noted.
“Climate models project that the temperatures of 2023 will become normal by the 2050s. Such changes are likely to increase fire activity, risking the carbon uptake potential of Canadian forests,” the study wrote.
“This will impact allowable emissions for reaching warming targets, as reduced carbon sequestration by ecosystems must be compensated for by adjusting anthropogenic emissions reductions.”