The sweltering heat that has settled in Andalusia since last weekend has now joined a cloud of smoke that tinted the sky gray of the westernmost provinces of the community. Already on Tuesday it could be verified in Huelva and on the morning of this Wednesday it spread to other cities, such as Seville.
The reason for these cloudy and opaque skies, similar to those that occur during episodes of haze, is none other than the smoke coming from the fires that have taken place in Canada.
It may seem something extraordinary that a location so far from the Iberian Peninsula, on the other side of the ocean, has an impact on Andalusia. However, the territorial delegate of the National Meteorological Agency (Aemet) in Andalusia, Juan de Dios del Pino, explains to ABC that it is not such a strange phenomenon.
“THE the winds who come to us come to us from West, as in this case, and they are the ones who historically served the Spanish ships to return from America”. Del Pino also points out that in this case, the creation of a strong anticyclonewhich brought the high temperatures, caused the suspended soot to travel towards our country.
The jet stream that brings the winds from west to east (and therefore from the American continent to Europe) is formed by the temperature difference between different zones of the atmosphere (polar and subtropical and subtropical and tropical).
Thousands of kilometers of travel
Practically 7,000 kilometers have traveled the particles of soot carried by westerly wind currents to reach Spain from Canada. In fact, these suspended particles even went as far as the Mediterranean, reaching Italy. From Aemet, they point out that their presence could slightly mitigate the predicted high temperatures.
Canadians have been ravaged by numerous fires for weeks. only in the last one and a half million hectares burned in the North American country, having already surpassed seven million so far this year.
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Given the presence of smoke at height, it should not have an impact on air quality or be harmful to people’s health. According to Del Pino, territorial delegate of Aemet, the sky should remain overcast all day Wednesday in western Andalusia, as has happened in other points such as Extremadura, extending to the center and east of the autonomous community on Thursday to gradually disappear throughout said day.
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