Canadian wildfires affect the air quality of the US and other European countries

Burning since last May, wildfires are still raging fiercely in Canada. According to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), on June 25, 2023, the North American country is still suffering from 470 fires, of which 244 have gone out of control.

Smoke billowing from wildfires raging across Canada is creating thick clouds of smoke and raising air quality concerns across the United States, disrupting many aspects of American life.

Parts of Illinois, lower Michigan, and southern Wisconsin had the worst air quality in the United States on the afternoon of June 27, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, Chicago, Detroit, and Milwaukee also have air quality classified as "very unhealthy".

In Minnesota, a record 23rd bad air quality warning has been in place since June 27 across the state. Because the skies of Minneapolis and St. Paul's horizon are obscured by clouds of noxious smoke.

A haze of smoke formed by hundreds of Canadian wildfires also moved south, covering densely populated areas from Ottawa to Washington, DC. In New York City, the air quality on June 7 was the worst of any major metropolis in the world, ahead of New Delhi, India, according to IQAir's air quality index.

Health warnings for more than 111 million Americans

Many American residents expressed panic when the sky suddenly turned dark orange and they had to wear masks. Local governments in the US have issued air quality warnings, urging people to stay indoors and close windows.

Small particles in wildfire smoke can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat, and can affect your heart and lungs, making it harder to breathe. Health officials say it's important to limit outdoor activities as much as possible to avoid inhaling these particles. In Chicago, officials urged young people, older adults, and residents with health problems to spend more time indoors.

Several Daycare centers in the Chicago area have told parents that their children should stay indoors on June 27 due to poor air quality. A youth sports club says it has adjusted its activities to allow more time indoors.

Schools in New York and Washington had to cancel outdoor activities. All US air traffic had to cancel flights to Philadelphia, Newark, New Jersey, and LaGuardia airports due to poor visibility. New York's toxic air quality also kept some Broadway artists from performing.

Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement: “As these unsafe conditions continue, the city will continue to provide updates and act quickly to ensure that vulnerable individuals have the necessary resources to protect themselves and their families”.

The haze covers many famous landmarks, such as the Statue of Liberty and Yankee Stadium. Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, urged people to stay indoors and keep windows closed in the coming days. Even if the situation improves in the coming days, Adam stressed that the scenario could be repeated in the future due to climate change.

US efforts to help Canada battle large-scale wildfires

President Joe Biden said he is sending additional resources including support personnel, hundreds of firefighters, and US firefighting equipment to Canada, after sending 600 people in May. Also, he considered hundreds of Canadian ferocious wildfires as a reminder of the impacts of climate change.

Wildfires in Canada have emitted 160 million tons of carbon

According to Joel Thornton, professor, and chair of the Department of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, when forests burn, they release some carbon into the atmosphere. This accelerates global warming, which will create longer and hotter heatwaves, creating larger, smokey fires.

According to the EU's Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service, the wildfires, which have burned large areas of eastern and western Canada, have released 160 million tonnes of carbon. This is a record-high emission level since the unit started monitoring and statistics in 2003.

This year's wildfire was recorded as the worst in Canada, with about 76,000 square kilometers burned. This is greater than the total area burned in 2016, 2019, 2020, and 2022 combined.

Scientists pay more attention to the consequences of wildfires in Canada when toxic gases are released into the atmosphere. The amount of carbon released from the fire is roughly equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels in Indonesia. Experts estimate that Canada's boreal forests store more than 200 billion tons of carbon, equivalent to several decades of global carbon emissions. 

Smoke begins to fly to Europe

The seriousness of the wildfires in Canada has just been highlighted by observers when it is forecasted that the smoke from the fires in Canada is crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe and is likely to reach France on June 26.

According to Mark Parrington, chief scientific officer at Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Agency, clouds of smoke from the Canadian wildfires could reach the western coasts of Europe and affect the UK, Ireland, and parts of France.

Information from Canada's Météo Média weather channel also determined that "clouds of smoke in Canada will reach Europe and darken the skies over Ireland and Britain on Sunday 25 and Monday 26 June".