Study finds climate change doubled odds of 2026 Canada fire weather
Why it matters: More than 3.8 million hectares have burned, forcing evacuations and spreading hazardous smoke into U.S. cities.
Human-caused climate change made the extreme fire weather behind Canada’s 2026 wildfires about twice as likely, according to a new analysis from World Weather Attribution. Researchers examined the most severe seven-day and 30-day fire-weather periods in Ontario and the Northwest Territories and compared them with a world before roughly 1.4 degrees Celsius of warming since preindustrial times. The study said more than 3.8 million hectares have burned this year, displacing thousands of people and exposing millions to dangerous smoke. It found such conditions are no longer rare in today’s climate, occurring every two to six years in the Northwest Territories and every six to 15 years in Ontario, versus about every 40 years without climate warming.