Canada’s 2023 wildfires emitted more carbon than most countries

In the study, researchers raise the alarm on the long-term consequences of increased wildfire activity in the country.

Canada’s forests play an important role in capturing planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere, as they amount to 8.5% of the Earth’s total forested area. Their trees absorb fossil carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, slowing the pace of global warming.

In recent years, studies have shown that the country’s boreal forests are burning faster than they can regrow.

“This could have the long-term effect of reducing the ability of the forests to store carbon, and therefore there’d be more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than we would expect,” said Mr Byrne, the co-author of the study.

This means that scientists may have to rethink just how much carbon humans can emit into the atmosphere without warming the planet beyond what the world can adapt to.

“When we plan for the future, we basically expect that these forests will continue to take up carbon,” Mr Byrne told the BBC.

The 2015 Paris Agreement has set a global warming limit of 1.5 C (2.7 F) above industrial times. Last year was the warmest year on record since 1850, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Canada is already feeling the impact of climate change. The country is warming at a rate twice as that of the global average due to its large land mass, and its Arctic region is warming three times as fast.

Last summer, temperatures in Canada were more than 2.2 C (4 F) above the historical average.