This year’s wildfire season has long since set size records. The previous record was in 1989, when 73,000 square meters of land was burned for an entire year, according to national figures from the CIFFC center.

The area that has been burned so far this year is almost as large as Iceland – or the combined area of ​​the Norwegian counties of Troms and Finnmark and Viken.

A total of 4,088 forest and brush fires have been recorded so far this year. More than 150,000 people were evacuated and on Thursday a 19-year-old firefighter lost his life.

– Absolutely mad

Due to the scale of the fires, authorities felt compelled to let most of them burn. Most of the fires occurred in forests away from populated areas. But they still have serious consequences for the environment.

– This year, we are seeing worse numbers than our most pessimistic scenarios, says Yan Boulange of Canada’s Department of Natural Resources.

– What is completely crazy is that there has been no respite since May, he continues.

[ Skogbrann herjer. Må evakuere ]

570 fires out of control

As of Saturday, there were 906 active fires in Canada. 570 of them are out of control, and it’s burning in every province of the country.

– We are talking about huge areas, explains Colonel Philippe Sansa, who heads a department of French firefighters fighting the flames in Quebec in northern Canada.

– The fire we are working on is 65 kilometers long, which represents enormous organizational challenges, he continues.

Western and Eastern Canada are hard hit. At the start of the wildfire season in May, western Alberta was hardest hit by wildfires of unprecedented magnitude.

A few weeks later, the fires were worst in Nova Scotia on the east coast, before huge fires in Quebec created thick clouds of smoke that even affected parts of the United States.

severe drought

Since the beginning of July, the situation has taken a dramatic turn in British Columbia. More than 250 fires have broken out here in just three days last week. Most of them were triggered by lightning.

Large parts of Canada are affected by severe drought after months of abnormally low rainfall and high temperatures.

The country is warming faster than the rest of the Earth due to its geographical location. According to scientists, extreme weather events in Canada have increased in intensity and frequency due to climate change.

The great green ring of forest in the north of the planet is crucial to the health of the planet. Due to the dense understory, wildfires in the north can release far more CO2 per square kilometer than some other ecosystems. It can also contribute to global warming.

Facts about wildfires in Canada

* More than 100,000 square kilometers of land have so far been burned to ashes as a result of the wildfires, the size of Iceland.

* This is well above the previous record from 1989, when 73,000 square kilometers of land burned in an entire year.

* More than 155,000 people have been evacuated following the wildfires in Canada, the highest number in 40 years.

* So far this year, there have been 4,088 forest and brush fires in Canada, well above the average of 2,751.

* Most of the fires occurred in forests away from populated areas.