As Wildfires Rage, Canada's Oil Sector Looks to Ramp Up Production

As Wildfires Rage, Canada's Oil Sector Looks to Ramp Up Production - Yale E360

Oil drilling near Drayton Valley, Alberta. Nathan Schneider via Wikipedia

Even as unprecedented wildfires hamper Canadian oil drilling, fossil fuel firms are seeking to boost production, ramping up Canada’s oil output by 8 percent over the next two years.

The industry aims to increase production by 375,000 barrels a day, a bigger uptick in production than was seen over the last five years, Reuters reported. The planned expansion stands at odds with Canada’s climate goals, and it comes as the country battles massive wildfires that scientists say have been made worse by the burning of fossil fuels.

Smoke from wildfires in Canada's Northwest Territories. Burned woodlands are gray, while unburned woodlands are green. NASA

“The summer’s intense heat dries vegetation, making it flammable and faster to catch fire,” said Guillermo Rein, a professor of fire science at Imperial College London. “There have always been wildfires in Canada, but climate change is making them larger, faster, and harder to stop.”

A new analysis finds that human-caused climate change made the hot, dry conditions that fed fires in eastern Canada twice as likely. So far this year, fires have burned an area the size of Alabama and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

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