Smoke from Canadian wildfires reaches Europe

Extensive forest fires are ongoing in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, as well as in the Northwest Territories. Smoke from these fires is affecting air quality not only in North America. The European Atmosphere Monitoring Centre Copernicus reported in a statement that the impact of the Canadian fires has been felt on our continent for several days, in the form of hazy skies.

According to CAMS observations, the smoke began moving over the Atlantic Ocean on August 10 and reached the westernmost parts of Europe on August 17.

CAMS analyses, combining satellite observations with model data, show large amounts of smoke moving across Canada and the Atlantic between 10 and 19 August, reaching Ireland and the UK, then moving across the continent from France to Scandinavia. Smoke also appeared over Poland.

Already between August 1 and 19, the Northwest Territories and the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba had the highest levels of carbon emissions typically recorded in August, close to the record high set in 2023. CAMS predicts that 2024 will be one of the most extreme years for Canada in this regard, second only to the previous year.

Late in the day, the Center signaled that because July fires were record-breaking in some areas, there would be more extreme emissions related to them in the second half of summer.