Canada wildfires burn area the size of Croatia
Canada's wildfires have burned more than 13.6 million acres (5.5 million hectares) this year, an area roughly the size of Croatia, officials said Friday as the country endures one of its most destructive fire seasons.
In 2023, Canada's worst-ever fire season, 42.9 million acres of land were scorched, an extraordinary scale of damage that focused international attention on the growing threat of wildfires boosted by human-induced climate change.
Canada has counted some 3,000 wildfires in 2025, with 561 burning as of Friday, according to official figures.
"This is one of the highest cumulative areas burned for this time of year, behind the record setting fire season of 2023," an official with Canada's natural resources ministry, Michael Norton, told reporters.
But, he added, "unlike 2023, when fire activity didn't level off, what we're seeing this year is a more normal pattern of burning."
According to figures dating back to 1983, Canada's second most destructive fire season was 1995, when 17.5 million acres burned, a mark that may be passed this year.
Elevated temperatures and dry conditions led to a difficult spring this year, particularly in the central provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
While the intensity of fire activity diminished in June, officials warned the coming two months tend to be the most active nationally, with conditions favorable for burning expected in several areas, including the western province of British Columbia.
Indigenous Canadians have been disproportionately impacted, with 39,000 First Nation residents displaced so far this year.
In recent years, Canada has experienced warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the globe.
Linked to climate change, rising temperatures lead to reduced snow, shorter and milder winters, and earlier summer conditions that are conducive to fires, experts say.
© 2025 AFP