Megafires In Canada: A Warning To The World

Canada, otherwise known as the coldest part of North America, has seen some surprising headlines in recent years. We all know Canada as the maple syrup and ice hockey capital of the world, but something we have never expected out of the land up north is wildfires. That’s right, back in 2023, Canada suffered one of the largest sets of megafires in North America.

Canada has a long fire season from early May to late September. In 2023, the total number of reported fires was not unusual, 6,595 by October. The concerning part was that a subset of the fires reached exceptional sizes. 100s of these fires exceeded 10,000 hectares, 39 miles. These are large enough to be considered mega fires. By the end of the year, more than 6,000 fires had torched a staggering 15 million hectares of land. That’s an area larger than England and more than double the 1989 record.

You must be wondering what causes these wildfires? According to Yan Boulanger, Jonathan Boucher, and Sandy Erni, research scientists in forest ecology at Natural Resources Canada, “Climate change is greatly increasing the flammability of the fuel available for wildfires because the trees, fallen trees, and underbrush are all so dry. This means that a single spark, regardless of its source, can rapidly turn into a blazing inferno.”

Climate change has affected our world in so many disastrous ways. It played a part in turning a beautiful year-round wintry wonderland into a damaged landscape. If we don’t start changing our planet, this sad reality will become more prevalent all around the world. Some ways you can help with climate change are simply by speaking up, whether that is starting to recycle and reuse old materials at home, volunteering with local Mission Green Global chapters, or writing blogs to post on our page. Together, we can look towards a different Canada, one that keeps its icy charm year-round!

Sources: “Canada's record-breaking wildfires in 2023: A fiery wake-up call - Natural Resources Canada.” Natural Resources Canada, 27 December 2024, https://natural-resources.canada.ca/stories/simply-science/canada-s-record-breaking-wildfires-2023-fiery-wake-call. Accessed 15 May 2025.

Ozal, Uygar. “Canada's 2023 Forest Fires Caused Major Climate Impact.” World Resources Institute, 27 June 2024, https://www.wri.org/insights/canada-wildfire-emissions. Accessed 27 April 2025.

Voiland, Adam. “Tracking Canada's Extreme 2023 Fire Season.” NASA Earth Observatory, 24 October 2023, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151985/tracking-canadas-extreme-2023-fire-season. Accessed 27 April 2025.