N. P. Gillett, A. J. Weaver, F. W. Zwiers, M. D. Flannigan

Geophysical Research Letters

Published date September 29, 2004

Detecting the effect of climate change on Canadian forest fires

  • States that the area burned by forest fires in Canada has increased over the past four decades, at the same time as summer season temperatures have warmed
  • Uses output from a coupled climate model to demonstrate that human emissions of greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosol have made a detectable contribution to this warming
  • Shows that human‐induced climate change has had a detectable influence on the area burned by forest fire in Canada over recent decades
  • Concludes that this increase in area burned is likely to have important implications for terrestrial emissions of carbon dioxide and for forest ecosystems