Wildfires turn Canada’s vast forests from carbon sink into super-emitter

Flames reach upwards along the edge of a wildfire near Mistissini, Quebec, Canada, on 12 June 2023. Photograph: Canadian Forces/Reuters

The vast swaths of pine, spruce and larch forest that blanket much of Canada have been prized for generations. Not only do they provide a home to hundreds of species – including some of the most threatened in the country – but they also absorb more greenhouse gases than they emit, acting as a huge carbon sink.

This summer, however, as flames devoured one of the largest contiguous stretches of woodland on the planet, 2bn tonnes (2.2bn tons) of carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere.