Climate change made Ontario, N.W.T. fire conditions roughly twice as likely: report

By Jordan Omstead The conditions underlying intense July wildfires in Ontario and Northwest Territories were made roughly twice as likely due to human-induced climate change, said a new report published Thursday. The report by an international team of scientists says what were once rare fire conditions are now increasingly likely today due to climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels. “The geographic spread of these fires is scary and shows that despite preparedness from wildfire governance, adaptation alone is not enough,” said Theodore Keeping, a co-author and Imperial College London research associate. “We need to rapidly move away from fossil fuels to avoid events like this becoming even more of a reality.” The World Weather Attribution report says early observations indicate the hot, dry and windy conditions fuelling…

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