The onset of large, severe wildfires that threaten communities year after year has occurred earlier in British Columbia than previous research projected, and experts say the record-shattering 2023 season must serve as a springboard for action.
The surge stems from a combination of climate change and entrenched forest management practices, which have together created a landscape more conducive to large, high-intensity blazes, says Lori Daniels, a professor in the department of forest and conservation sciences at the University of British Columbia.
“Society is already paying a huge cost for these climate change-fuelled fires,” she says.
“The thing we can control in the short term is the vulnerability of the landscape.”
Reducing that vulnerability
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