Since early 2023, mega fires have burned more than 100,000 square kilometers in Canada. An area equivalent to 20% of metropolitan France.

Thousands of wildfires have burned just over 10 million hectares in Canada since the beginning of the year. A grand total that far exceeds anything the country has ever seen, and beyond even the most pessimistic forecasts by scientists.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC), those numbers are expected to get even worse as 887 fires were active in the country as of this Sunday, with 585 of them believed to be out of control.

Bigger than Portugal

Altogether, the forests burned in just six and a half months represent an area larger than that of Portugal or that of Iceland. According to the CIFFC, the previous absolute record in this area dates back to 1989 with 7.3 million hectares.

On the scale of France, the burned area represents about 20% of the urban area… and dozens of departments, as you can see on our map.

It is mainly the boreal forests that are going up in smoke far away from inhabited areas. However, with serious consequences for the environment, recalls AFP. This green ring that encircles the Arctic (that is, in Canada, but also in Alaska, Siberia, and northern Europe) is indeed vital to the future of the planet.

Another special feature of this northern forest: it releases 10 to 20 times more carbon per unit area burned than other ecosystems. By releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, these fires in turn contribute to global warming – a vicious cycle.

A second firefighter has died in Canada after being injured while fighting the major blazes, two days after claiming the first casualty, authorities said on Sunday.