Canada’s 2023 wildfires burned 15.1 million hectares and released 554 million tonnes of carbon

Burning soil and peat drove most emissions in Canada's record 2023 wildfire season, study finds Underground stores of rich soil and thick peat were the main fuel behind the record emissions created during Canada’s 2023 wildfire season. Rather than standing trees and leaves, carbon locked beneath the forest floor accounted for 76 per cent of all carbon released by the blazes.According to a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, titled Three-fourths of Carbon Emissions from 2023 Record-Breaking Wildfires in Canada Traced to Soil and Peat Combustion, the fire season burned an estimated 15.1 million hectares of land. This burnt area is seven times larger than Canada's 20-year average. Across the season, the fires released roughly 554 million tonnes of carbon into the air, making up nearly a quarter of all global wildfire emissions for that year.The findings show a major change in how northern fires burn, proving that hotter weather is exposing ancient underground carbon stores to direct burning.Centuries of stored carbon lost to underground firesCanada holds roughly 20 per cent of the world's soil carbon inside its soils and peatlands. Peatlands cover about 1.1 mi...