Current:Home > FinanceCanada's record wildfire season continues to hammer U.S. air quality-LoTradeCoin
Canada's record wildfire season continues to hammer U.S. air quality
View Date:2025-01-14 22:32:26
Several hundred wildfires are continuing to burn across several Canadian provinces this weekend, with an ongoing impact on impact air quality for vast swaths of the North American continent.
Earlier this week the air quality in Toronto was assessed to be among the worst in the world, just weeks after the wildfires had left New York City with that dubious title.
As the U.S. prepares to celebrate the July Fourth holiday, its northern neighbors are marking Canada Day on Saturday, but the kinds of group celebration that normally entails are difficult — or unsafe — in several parts of that country. Indeed in Montreal, the poor air quality has prompted officials to cancel many outdoor activities, and they have begun handing out N95 face masks to residents, as recommended whenever the air quality index breaches 150.
Medical professionals say that poor air quality can lead to higher rates of conditions like asthma in the short-term, but in the most severe cases, the long-term effects of these microscopic particles can include blood clots that precipitate cardiac arrests or angina.
That smoke is again heading south to parts of the Midwest and East Coast of the United States. It's the worst Canadian wildfire season on record thanks to unusually high temperatures and dry conditions. The fires are raging from as far west as British Columbia to the eastern province of Nova Scotia. They are also found in heavily populated Quebec, though recent rainfall means more than 2,000 residents who have been evacuated from their homes can now start to return.
NASA satellites have recorded some of the smoke trails traversing the Atlantic too, as far afield as Spain and Portugal.
And there is little end in sight, so early in the season, which typically begins in May but continues through October. The worst blazes normally occur in July and August as temperatures spike, but emergency officials across several provinces are girding for an unprecedentedly widespread intensification.
Over the past several weeks since the first fires began in Alberta, roughly 20 million acres have been burned. Around 1,500 international firefighters have also arrived in several parts of the country to support Canadian teams working to suppress the blazes. The latest to reach a major blaze in northeastern Quebec is a team of 151 firefighters from South Korea.
veryGood! (2)
Related
- A list of mass killings in the United States this year
- Kentucky judge dismisses lawsuit challenging a new law to restrict the sale of vaping products
- Wildfire doubles in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains as evacuations continue
- Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon: An American Saga-Chapter 2’ gets Venice Film Festival premiere
- Judge set to rule on whether to scrap Trump’s conviction in hush money case
- Ozzy Osbourne apologizes to Britney Spears for mocking her dance videos: 'I'm so sorry'
- Mega Millions winning numbers for July 30 drawing: Jackpot climbs to $331 million
- Vermont man evacuates neighbors during flooding, weeks after witnessing a driver get swept away
- Bohannan requests a recount in Iowa’s close congressional race as GOP wins control of House
- Black leaders in St. Louis say politics and racism are keeping wrongly convicted man behind bars
Ranking
- Miami Marlins hiring Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough as manager
- San Francisco police and street cleaners take aggressive approach to clearing homeless encampments
- Tesla in Seattle-area crash that killed motorcyclist was using self-driving system, authorities say
- Tesla recalls 1.85 million vehicles over hood latch issue that could increase risk of crash
- A herniated disc is painful, debilitating. How to get relief.
- Harris gives Democrats a jolt in a critical part of swing-state Wisconsin
- Harris Grabs Green New Deal Network Endorsement That Eluded Biden
- American BMX rider Perris Benegas surges to take silver in Paris
Recommendation
-
More human remains from Philadelphia’s 1985 MOVE bombing have been found at a museum
-
American Bobby Finke surges to silver in men's 800 free
-
Olympics 2024: Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles React to Simone Biles Shading MyKayla Skinner
-
Missouri woman admits kidnapping and killing a pregnant Arkansas woman
-
Nicole Kidman Reveals the Surprising Reason for Starring in NSFW Movie Babygirl
-
San Francisco police and street cleaners take aggressive approach to clearing homeless encampments
-
2024 Olympics: Judo Star Dislocates Shoulder While Celebrating Bronze Medal
-
Arizona voters to decide congressional primaries, fate of metro Phoenix election official