Climate change makes wildfires worse

Climate change is increasing the severity, size, and duration of wildfires in Canada, leading to record-breaking seasons in 2023 and 2025. These events cause significant public health crises through smoke inhalation, substantial economic losses in infrastructure and the forestry sector, and disproportionate impacts on Indigenous communities. The document argues for a dual approach of protecting communities through fire resilience and accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to limit further warming.

• Canada is experiencing an increase in the scale and intensity of wildfires, with the 2023 season being the most destructive on record, consuming 16.5 million hectares—nearly seven times the historical average.
• Climate change is altering fire behavior by extending 'burning hours' through a weakened day-night temperature cycle and increasing the frequency of lightning strikes; in 2023, 93% of burned areas in Canada were ignited by lightning.
• Wildfire smoke has severe health consequences, causing an annual average of 1,400 deaths in Canada between 2020-2024 and an estimated 80,000 premature deaths globally due to the 2023 Canadian wildfires.
• The economic burden of wildfires is rising, with protection costs increasing by approximately $150 million per decade since the 1970s and now regularly exceeding $1 billion annually.
• Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by wildfires, with 80% of majority-Indigenous communities located in fire-prone regions and a high frequency of evacuations from First Nations reserves.
• While forest management tools like prescribed burns and mechanical thinning are useful for protecting specific at-risk communities, they are too costly and risky to prevent large-scale, weather-driven wildfires across Canada's vast forests.

APA

Canadian Climate Institute (2026). Climate change makes wildfires worse. https://climateinstitute.ca/news/fact-sheet-wildfires/

Chicago

Canadian Climate Institute. Climate change makes wildfires worse. 2026. https://climateinstitute.ca/news/fact-sheet-wildfires/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Canadian Climate Institute |title=Climate change makes wildfires worse |date=10 July 2026 |url=https://climateinstitute.ca/news/fact-sheet-wildfires/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canadianclimateinstitute2026climate, author = {{Canadian Climate Institute}}, title = {{Climate change makes wildfires worse}}, institution = {Canadian Climate Institute}, year = {2026}, month = jul, url = {https://climateinstitute.ca/news/fact-sheet-wildfires/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }