Forest fires have pushed Canada into the top four CO2 emitters by 2023

Ottawa, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 29th Aug, 2024) Record fires in 2023 have bumped Canada into the top four greenhouse gas emitting countries in the world that year, according to a study by the Wednesday that also casts doubt on its forests. future ability to capture and store significant amounts of CO2.

Last year saw a catastrophic number of fires across the country, with 15 million hectares — about 58,000 square kilometers, or about four percent of Canada’s total forest area — burned and more than 200,000 people displaced.

Looking at satellite data of smoke plumes from wildfires that burned from May to September last year, researchers determined that 2,371 megatonnes of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide were released, pushing Canada’s ranking from l eleventh to fourth among the world’s main carbon emitters.

The researchers warn that the hot and dry climate responsible for those flames is expected to become the norm by the 2050s, and “likely to lead to an increase in fire activity”.

“This raises concerns about whether potentially more frequent and intense fires in the coming decades will suppress the ability of Canadian forests to continue to serve as carbon sinks,” Brendan Byrne, lead author of the study, told l AFP.