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Canadian forests are more conducive to high severity fires in recent decades Wang, Weiwei; Wang, Xianli; Flannigan, Mike D.; Guindon, Luc; Swystun, Tom; Castellanos-Acuna, Dante; Wu, Wanli; Wang, Guangyu

Abstract

Canada has experienced more intense and longer fire seasons with more frequent uncontrollable wildfires over the last decades. However, the effect of these changes remains unknown. This study identifies driving forces of burn severity and estimates its spatiotemporal variations in Canadian forests. Our results show that fuel aridity was the most influential driver to burn severity, summer months were more prone to severe burning, and the northern areas were most influenced by the changing climates. About 6% (0.54-14.64%) of the modeled areas show significant increases in the number of days conducive to high-severity burning during 1981-2020, most of which were found during 2001-2020 and in spring and autumn. The extraordinary 2023 fire season demonstrated similar spatial patterns but more widespread escalations in burn severity.

Item Metadata

Title
Canadian forests are more conducive to high severity fires in recent decades
Creator
Wang, Weiwei; Wang, Xianli; Flannigan, Mike D.; Guindon, Luc; Swystun, Tom; Castellanos-Acuna, Dante; Wu, Wanli; Wang, Guangyu
Date Issued
2025-01-02
Description
Canada has experienced more intense and longer fire seasons with more frequent uncontrollable wildfires over the last decades. However, the effect of these changes remains unknown. This study identifies driving forces of burn severity and estimates its spatiotemporal variations in Canadian forests. Our results show that fuel aridity was the most influential driver to burn severity, summer months were more prone to severe burning, and the northern areas were most influenced by the changing climates. About 6% (0.54-14.64%) of the modeled areas show significant increases in the number of days conducive to high-severity burning during 1981-2020, most of which were found during 2001-2020 and in spring and autumn. The extraordinary 2023 fire season demonstrated similar spatial patterns but more widespread escalations in burn severity.
Genre
Article; Postprint
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2025-01-15
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0447756
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90127
Affiliation
Forestry, Faculty of; Non UBC; Forest Resources Management, Department of
Citation
Wang, W., Wang, X., Flannigan, M. D., Guindon, L., Swystun, T., Castellanos-Acuna, D., Wu, W., & Wang, G. (2025). Canadian forests are more conducive to high-severity fires in recent decades. Science, 387(6729), 91–97.
Publisher DOI
10.1126/science.ado1006
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher; Postdoctoral; Graduate
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International