Climate change made 2023 wildfire conditions in Canada three times as likely, study finds » Yale Climate Connections

In 2023, huge wildfires raged in Canada, Greece, and the Amazon.

And research shows that human-caused climate change and land use changes significantly increased the odds of these record-setting infernos.

According to the first State of Wildfires report, human-caused climate change made last summer’s very dry, fire-prone conditions in western Amazonia at least 20 times more likely.

Douglas Kelley of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology is one of the report’s lead authors.

Kelley: “Western Amazonia had quite a large drought last year, and that caused a lot more fires in the rain forest.”

In Canada, human influences roughly tripled the chances of the hot, dry conditions that contributed to extreme fires there.

And the risk of extreme wildfires will grow as global warming continues.

Kelley: “So for Canada, for example … what we’re showing there is if someone was born at the start of the last century, in 1900, they would have had a 12% chance of seeing a fire like we saw in 2023 within their lifetime.”

That number jumps to about 50% or more for someone born there today – if the world does not do more to reduce carbon pollution.

But Kelley says more ambitious climate action can help limit that future risk.

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy / ChavoBart Digital Media