Canada's 2023 fires spewed more heat-trapping gas than millions of cars

FILE - Wildfires devastated this forest between Enterprise and Kakisa, Northwest Territories, Canada, Aug. 15, 2023. A study released June 27, 2024, says last year's Canadian wildfires released more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than 647 million cars do in a year. FILE - Smog from wildfires in Canada shrouds the Empire State Building in New York on Sept. 6 2023.

Catastrophic Canadian wildfires last year pumped more heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air than India did by burning fossil fuels, setting ablaze an area of forest larger than the U.S. state of West Virginia, new research finds.