Hundreds of wildfires have ravaged huge swathes of land in Canada for weeksin both eastern and western regions, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.
In addition to burning thousands of hectares of vegetation, the fires released huge amounts of smoke into the atmosphere in Junewith enormous consequences in cities like New York, hundreds of miles away, where visibility was severely reduced and air quality reached alarming levels.
forest fire smoke#Montreal pic.twitter.com/3OrFXAydr2
—Tevfik Bayram (@tewfiqhacibeyri) June 26, 2023
The situation varies depending on local weather conditions and for a few hours the smoke from the fires has literally suffocated the city of Montreal (Quebec)where yesterday the worst air quality of major cities in the world was recorded, according to authorities.
Quebec’s most populous city hit “unhealthy” air quality on Sunday, June 25according to IQAir, the air quality index that tracks pollution around the world.
The problem is mainly fine dust, and authorities advise people to limit outdoor activities and wear face masks, while swimming pools and outdoor sports fields were closed. This is all due to the hundreds of fires still active.
Smoke from the fires reaches Spain
But the thing does not stop there. Smoke from the Canadian fires has been drifting towards Europe over the past few hours. The column of smoke which moves towards the west of Europe is important, and holds the attention of the meteorologists in these hours.
#Last hour: The smoke ️ from the great fires of #Canada He has just arrived in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula after crossing the Atlantic.
This is how it was seen from the satellite ️. pic.twitter.com/91S6sttFpG
— Patina | meteo.com (@MeteoredES) June 26, 2023
In the latest satellite images of this Monday, June 26, 2023, you can see smoke from the Canadian fires has already reached the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. In some parts of the northwest, the sky is already starting to be somewhat cloudy for this reason.
An extreme fire season in Canada
Canada’s fire season has started this year earlier than usual and with unusual vigorreports The New York Times, bringing destruction even to areas where such large fires do not usually occur, such as in Quebec. Millions of hectares have been affected by the flames.
Fires are common in the spring and summer across most of Canada, but often occur in remote, sparsely populated areas. This year, the situation is quite different, and on a different scale than in the past.
Fires in Canada have already devastated several million hectares of forest in recent weeks. A dry, windy and abnormally warm spring created ideal conditions for the spread of wildfires.
These fires are of considerable dimensions, in large numbers (hundreds are active at the moment) and are taking place in large areas of the country, covering an area already greater than that which burned last year, despite the fact that we do not are only at the beginning of summer. A dry, windy and abnormally warm spring provided ideal conditions for the wildfires to spread.
In mid-June, the toll was more than 2,600 individual fires recorded and some 15 million hectares burned. Last year, 560,000 hectares were affected during the same period, much less than in this historic and worrying year 2023.
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