North American Wildfires Do Not Stop at Canada
The Claim
While the Western US was plagued by wildfires in September 2020, maps showed Western Canada was experiencing no such fires, despite having essentially the same climate, biome, and ecosystem.
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Emerging story
In late August and early September of 2020, a series of unprecedented wildfires have ravaged the West Coast, with almost 50 active wildfires currently in the state of Oregon alone. The fires have killed 33 so far, destroyed 5 million acres of forest, forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, and left hundreds of thousands without power. Amid this catastrophe, images have circulated social media suggesting that the destruction being experienced by the US West Coast is not being experienced by the Canadian West Coast. The claim that no wildfires have affected Canada this year has gone viral, and is leading some to wonder what the difference between these bordering nations might be.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation into this claim reveals it to be false. As of today, September 16th, there are exactly five wildfires in Canada, three of which are in the Western part of the country. As such, technically the claim identified in this piece is incorrect. However, the fact that Canada is the second largest nation in the world by surface area, and the fact that half of the country is covered by forest totaling almost 1 million square miles, five fires during forest fire season seem decidedly ordinary compared to the calamity befalling the US. As such, it would be far more interesting to investigate what the differences are between the two nations— clearly, climate change cannot be the only factor at play in these two areas with roughly the same climate.
