How Wildfires Impact Canada’s Forests and Communities
Yan on camera. Text on screen: ‘Yan Boulanger, Research Scientist, NRCan’.
“Fire has a lot of impacts all across the country, and those impacts are on ecosystems, on society, on the economy.”
Aerial shot from a helicopter showing patches of burnt forest resulting from a fire.
“If we are getting too much fires in the ecosystems, it means that the ecosystems will not be that resilient to fire.”
Closer shot from within the forest showing charred earth and trees. An elk walks through a burned forest.
“We might see more regeneration failure or changes in forest composition that might lead to changes in wildlife habitats”
A forestry worker uses machinery to prepare a tree log to be cut. The log slides through a circular saw.
“or also impacts on the forest industry that relies on the wood that we have in the forest.”
Aerial shot of a forest fire. A helicopter flies by. Another aerial shot of a forest fire, with many plumes of smoke.
“There’s also a lot of impacts on the health, on the social side also, with evacuations and all of the smoke that are emitted by the fires.”
Back to Yan on camera.
“So, the impacts are very important already, and they will be much more important in the future.”
The Canada wordmark appears on screen.
Why Are Wildfires Increasing in Canada?
Yan on camera. Text on screen: ‘Yan Boulanger, Research Scientist, NRCan’.
“With climate change, we are seeing a lot more conditions that are conducive for fire.”
A firefighter sprays a tree in the forest with water.
“So, the temperatures are getting warmer. The conditions are also getting drier. This means that the fuel also is getting drier and much more flammable.”
Two firefighters work together to carry a hose through a burnt forest. Patches of smoke rise from the ground.
“The length of the fire season is getting longer.”
Another shot of the forest. Patches of smoke rise from the charred forest floor. A firefighter sprays water on the forest floor.
“It starts earlier in the spring, and it ends later in the fall.”
Yan on camera.
“Since the late 50s, we are observing an increase in area burned in Canada.”
Several aerial shots of large wildfires.
“And we are observing an increase in the size of fires also. So the bigger fires are getting bigger, and also the lightning-caused fires are also getting more numerous all across Canada.”
A firefighter in a helicopter gestures offscreen to a colleague. In the background a large column of smoke rises out of the forest.
Yan on camera.
“With the increasing temperature we will see in the next coming decades with climate change, we might see an increase in area burned of twice — or maybe by five-fold — by the end of the century.”
A seaplane flies by, releasing a chemical fire retardant.
“The window of conditions that are conducive to fire is getting longer and more severe, and more frequent.”
A helicopter lowers a bucket into a lake, filling it with water. It flies over some trees and opens the bucket, releasing a stream of water.
“And that’s pretty much why we are seeing an increase in area burned in Canada since the late 50s.”
The Canada wordmark appears on screen.