Climate Change Will Lead To Greater Risk Of Wildfires In Canada: Experts
“The warmer it is the longer the fire season,” said Flannigan. “The warmer it is the more lightning you see.”
He
said for every degree of warming, the number of lightning strikes goes
up by about 12 per cent. Lightning usually causes more than half of the
wildfires in Canada.
He also said warmer temperatures dry out
trees and other fuels for the fire. Unless there is an associated
increase in rainfall, there is more fuel available to burn, allowing
fires to start easily and spread more rapidly. They are also more
intense fires, making them harder, or even impossible, to extinguish.
“It’s a warmer world and part of a warmer world is more fire,” he said.