Canada’s military deployed to far north Sunday in the fight against hundreds of out-of-control wildfires as residents of several remote communities fled the advancing blazes.
This season, megafires have spread across the country with remarkable intensity, forcing 168,000 Canadians to flee their homes and scorching 13.5 million hectares—almost twice the area of the last record of 7.3 million hectares, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC).
The blazes have also emitted an unprecedented amount of carbon dioxide—more than a billion metric tons—which is roughly the same amount that would be produced in a year by 217 million cars, or approximately the annual emissions of Japan.
Environment Canada, meanwhile, warned that temperatures in Vancouver and other parts of British Columbia—where 390 wildfires are burning—would soar through Wednesday.