Alberta Wildfires Linked to Climate Change, Scientist Says

As another extreme fire season starts with more people on the run, scientists say they're already seeing signs that climate change is playing a role again, CBC News reports. 

Recent fires have been connected to climate change in two separate research papers published earlier this year by scientists with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

In May 2016, a wildfire near Fort McMurray forced more than 80,000 people to flee the northern Alberta city, destroyed 2,400 buildings and burned nearly 6,000 square kilometres of forest.

A year later, the fire season in British Columbia broke records as 2,117 blazes consumed more than 12,000 square kilometres of bush.

"We are seeing climate change in action," said University of Alberta wildland fire Prof. Mike Flannigan to CBC News