Article content

OTTAWA — A new government report says that by the end of this century, a changing climate is expected to at least double the area burned each year by forest fires in Canada.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Changing climate is raising forest fire risk, says NRCan annual report Back to video

The annual forest assessment of 2015 data by Natural Resources Canada says a warming climate will contribute to a 50 per cent increase in large fires, new tree diseases and more insect infestations.

“Climate change is gradually imposing an increasing trend on forest fires, a trend that is partially masked by the large variability of this disturbance,” says the report.

The study builds on a body of scientific evidence that became politically charged last May when a massive wildfire forced the evacuation of the northern Alberta oilsands hub of Fort McMurray.

That fire, which razed entire neighbourhoods of the city, ended up covering almost 590,000 hectares of boreal forest and is expected to total more than $3.5 billion in insured losses, the largest such insurance loss in Canadian history.