Smoke from Canada’s numerous wildfires has reached the northeastern United States and settled like a gloomy fog over New York, among other places.
Vulnerable people are asked to stay indoors to avoid the acrid gray-yellow smoke. On Tuesday, the smoke thickened and contributed to a spectacular red sunset and the fact that Manhattan and New Jersey could not be seen clearly.
The smoke was seen in the area around the Great Lakes, on the border with Canada – from Cleveland to Buffalo – and also reached New England and other parts of the northeastern United States.
Smoke from giant fires has reached Norway’s west coast, reports say VG.
– In the worst case, residents on the west coast of Norway can smell smoke and see thin fog, Nikolaos Evangeliou, senior researcher at the climate and environment institute NILU, told the newspaper.
Experts warn Canada could face its worst wildfire season in history. In Quebec, there are more than 150 active forest fires on Tuesday. The French-speaking province has requested international help to deal with the numerous fires.
The northern hemisphere has been particularly hard hit by wildfires this spring, according to a report from the European climate monitoring service Copernicus.
According to the report, emissions of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases from wildfires reached record levels in several regions, and the fire season also started very early this year.
Spain has been hit hard since March, particularly the Valencia region. This resulted in the highest Spanish emissions since 2012 in May.
High temperatures and drought in Europe this winter have led to an imminent risk of wildfires in many places.
In Canada, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and some neighboring regions of Russia as well, an unusually high number of forest fires have been recorded this year.
In Canada, greenhouse gas emissions from fires were ten times higher than ever before. The province of Saskatchewan was hardest hit.
Unusually large emissions from fires were also measured in the provinces of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and Nova Scotia.
Fires in Canada contributed to Toronto and New York on Wednesday tops the list of major cities with the worst air qualitysurpassed only by Dubai.
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