Climate change likely influenced forest fires in Labrador, says ecologist

A forest ecologist says abnormal weather is becoming more common and will likely cause more wildfires like the ones that threatened Labrador towns in recent weeks.

Anthony Taylor of the University of New Brunswick told CBC News in a recent interview that climate change is a factor in the number and severity of forest fires this summer in Labrador.

"You'll see an increase in the frequency of years where you have big fires, and it's directly related to the fact that you're going to have an increase in the frequency of weather that's more conducive to fires," said Taylor, who researches how climate change affects forests.

This summer, Labradorians have been forced to evacuate their homes, as forest fires persist across the region.

Suppressing the fires has required a tremendous amount of support and resources as firefighters from Newfoundland and New Brunswickjoined the fight.

Climate change has caused abnormally high temperatures in Labrador this summer, says Taylor.

"Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole has warmed by more than two degrees Celsius since the late 1800s," he said. "And in fact, Labrador itself has warmed more than a degree since the 1960s."

Although there has been close to normal amounts of rainfall in Labrador, he said, higher temperatures cause increased evaporation and drier forests, likely contributing to conditions that are conducive to fire.

So far this year, the area burnedin Newfoundland and Labrador is more than three times as big as the 30-year average. The average annual area burned in the province over the past three decades is around 21,000 hectares, but this year it's close to 72,000 hectares, primarily in Labrador.

"This year stands out for sure," he said.

Scientists predict the area burned will increase two or three times in size by the end of the century.

Planning and prevention

Taylor says fire bans are important when trying to minimize the risk of forest fires because most forest fires are caused by humans.

"One of the biggest things that we can do as a society is to make the public more aware of the influence they have in starting these fires."

But while the fires persist, there are things people can do to protect themselves and their property, he said, like creating a buffer zone between their homes and the forest, removing potential wood fuel sources.

Taylor says towns should also consider infrastructure changes like making fire hydrants and sprinklers more accessible and developing more efficient exit routes to avoid blocked roads during evacuations.

However, he said the underlying issue is climate change.

"While large fires do occur in Labrador from time to time, I don't want to undersell the influence of human-caused climate change on this because it is very likely that these fires we're seeing this year are influenced by climate change," he said.

"We just haven't been as a society taking our role in preventing and slowing climate change enough. And that's primarily by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and reducing those greenhouse gas emissions."

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.