<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/07/canada-wildfires-smoke-air-quality>
"Hundreds of wildfires are burning across Canada, many of them out of control,
have blanketed cities in a thick haze of smoke, amid warnings from experts the
situation will continue to worsen.
Toronto has long been known as “the Big Smoke” for its history of heavy
industry, but the nickname took on a different meaning on Wednesday when
residents donned masks outside, following alerts from officials that the city’s
air quality would continue to deteriorate. Outdoor school events were delayed
and city officials warned vulnerable groups to remain inside when possible. In
the nation’s capital of Ottawa, Environment Canada said the air quality was
“very high risk”, alongside the nearby cities of Kingston, Cornwall and
Belleville. In much of southern Ontario, the poor air quality is expected to
persist into the weekend.
The bulk of the smoke in eastern Canada is coming from the province of Quebec,
where crews are contending with more than 150 fires, many of which are
considered “out of control”.
Winds have also carried the wildfire smoke southward, prompting air-quality
alerts throughout the US. On Wednesday, both Detroit and New York City had some
of the world’s worst air quality of a major city. The US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has previously issued poor air quality alerts for New
England, parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 415 active wildfires across Canada and 238
were considered out of control. Since the fire season began, 2,214 blazes have
already burned more than 3.3m hectares of the country, well above the 10-year
average of 1,624 fires and 254,429 hectares burned.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre says it had been an “unprecedented”
year for wildfires and resources were being exhausted across the country.
While eastern Canada is under a relatively rare haze of smoke, crews in British
Columbia are waiting for a shift in weather to tackle the Donnie Creek fire, a
blaze stretching more than 2,400 sq km in size. The BC Wildfire Service says
the wildfire is now considered the second largest in provincial history.
Federal officials in Canada warned that without a change in weather, the
country was on pace for its worst-ever year for wildfire destruction, pointing
to warm and dry conditions that are forecasted to persist in all regions of the
country throughout the summer."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
