Canada Wildfires Contributed to Global Cooling in 2023

speedy Summary:

• 2023 was the hottest year on record,but smoke from massive Canadian wildfires contributed to cooling the northern hemisphere by nearly 1°C during the summer.
• Wildfire smoke caused localized cooling of up to 5.4°C in certain parts of Canada while globally reducing temperatures by an estimated 0.9°C.
• Emissions from these fires were five to six times higher than any prior wildfire season in Canada, having both immediate cooling and long-term warming effects due to carbon dioxide release.
• The smoke-induced atmospheric changes also weakened monsoon winds over Asia, correlating with India’s driest August on record as observed in both real-world data and climate simulations.
• Although impactful during summer months, this cooling effect dissipated by november and December.
• The brief respite didn’t slow global temperature increases; 2024 turned out even hotter than 2023.

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