Wildfires that swept Canada’s woodlands last year released more greenhouse gases than some of the largest emitting countries, a study found on Wednesday, calling into question national emissions budgets that rely on forests to be carbon stores. At 647 megatonnes, the carbon released in last year’s wildfires exceeded those of seven of the ten largest national emitters in 2022, including Germany, Japan and Russia the study published in the journal Nature found. …Typical emissions from Canadian forest fires over the last decade have ranged from 29 to 121 megatonnes. But climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is leading to drier and hotter conditions, driving extreme wildfires. The 2023 fires burned 15 million hectares across Canada, or about 4% of its forests. …The findings add to concerns about dependence on the world’s forests to act as a long-term carbon sink for industrial emissions when instead they could be aggravating the problem as they catch fire.

Additional coverage by Canadian Press, Jordan Omstead: 2023 wildfire emissions were quadruple Canada’s annual fossil fuel emissions: study