Changing climate is raising forest fire risk: NRCan annual report

by Bruce Cheadle

OTTAWA — A new government report says that by the end of this century a changing climate is expected to at least double the area burned each year by forest fires in Canada. The 2015 annual forest assessment by Natural Resources Canada says a warming climate will contribute to a 50 per cent increase in large fires, new tree diseases and more insect infestations. “Climate change is gradually imposing an increasing trend on forest fires, a trend that is partially masked by the large variability of this disturbance,” says the report. …Steve Taylor, a Victoria-based research scientist at NRCan’s Pacific Forestry Centre, said in an interview that it is now “well accepted” in the small scientific community that studies forest fires that a warming climate will lead to more fire activity, but with great regional variations and differing impacts depending on fire management.

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