Seriously, Why Does Canada Have So Many Wildfires These Days?

It seems like every year, we hear about worsening wildfires across the West Coast, including in frequently hard-hit areas in California. Massive fires have burned out of control in the U.S., devastating the regions they hit and claiming lives as they pass through. However, we often think of lush and cooler weather areas like Canada as being immune to the ravages of wildfires.

However, our northern neighbors have been experiencing quite a lot of wildfires themselves.

Why does Canada have so many wildfires? According to experts, there are several factors at play here, and they have all lined up to create the perfect storm for the country that has seen such bad fires each year that the smoke now reaches down in the U.S.

You can learn more below.

It would appear that Canada owes its wildfire problem to one of the things that makes the region so stunning: Boreal forests. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Boreal forests are beautiful areas of land that are covered with trees, like conifers and deciduous species, which help wildlife find safe haven in colder climates, creating a sort of shelter that helps insulate them against cold and frigid temperatures.

However, the Vancouver Sun says that these forests have recently become tinderboxes due to higher-than-normal temperatures, heat domes, and lower-than-typical rainfall, creating the perfect storm for wildfires to take hold and rage out of control.

Climate change is playing a significant role in just how bad Canada's wildfire situation is getting, since the Boreal forests cover large swaths of land in the country.

This isn't exactly a new problem either, which is leading to the devastation the country is seeing. That's because these situations build up over the years or changing weather conditions. One expert who spoke with the Vancouver Sun said that the conditions they are seeing in Canada aren't just more extreme, they're also lasting for longer stretches of time, compounding the wildfire problem for the country.

As we said, the country has a lot of Boreal forests. These forests are often located in remote areas, that are both massive and hard to reach. According to NPR, that makes it hard for Canadian firefighting crews to reach the problem, let alone address it.

"Canada is the second-largest country in the world, and almost half of that is forest," Quinn Barber, a fire science analyst with the Canadian Forest Service, told the publication in 2023.

"A lot of that forest is remote, untouched wilderness, and it's very difficult to manage wildfire in those areas where there is no road access or any of the infrastructure needed to support firefighting activity," Barber continued.

This means that fires may already be burning out of control before they've even been discovered.

However, Barber notes that Canada has an interesting approach to the more remote wildfires, and as long as there is no human life in danger, officials opt to let these blazes burn themselves out instead of wasting resources that may be needed to fight more dangerous fires that could pop up in populated areas.

Whether or not this will continue to be the plan as more of the country continues to burn, remains to be seen.