As wildfires continue to ravage Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, recent research has established a direct and measurable connection between carbon emissions from major fossil fuel producers and the increase in extreme wildfires across western Canada and the United States. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters, found that 37% of the total burned forest area in Western Canada and the United States between 1986-2021 can be traced back to 88 major fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers. The findings build on previous studies that have quantified the contribution of those same 88 companies to the increase in global temperatures. Using modelling data, researchers were able to determine that emissions traced back to those 88 companies resulted in an additional 80,000 square kilometers being burned, an area larger than the size of Ireland. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) responded to the study by stating that Canadian companies can reduce global carbon emissions by exporting more natural gas to replace coal production. The research is part of a growing field of study known as attribution science, which attempts to measure how climate change directly affected recent extreme weather events.