Canada reports worst wildfire season on record — and there’s more to come this fall | CBC News: June, which is normally a quieter month for fires, was particularly bad this year, which has pushed up the figures, he said.

There’s
been 211 evacuation orders issued so far with more than 167,000 people
forced to temporarily relocate to avoid disaster, federal data shows.

The
fires have burned valuable land, displaced people and
threatened communities — and they’ve also been devastating for the
environment.

The fires have already released one billion tonnes of
carbon dioxide emissions into the air, Norton said, which is roughly
the same figure as what the entire global airline industry emits in a
year.

“This kind of simultaneous fire activity in all regions of
the country is virtually unheard of, it’s usually more regional,” he
said.

“There has been very little respite since May. This season
has been relentless. This is by far the largest amount of area burned
since we started keeping good records,” he said.