Fires in Canada: foggy sky, orange sunset… What to expect with the arrival of smoke in Europe?

2023-06-26 15:50:03

Not only does a cloud of smoke not get stuck at borders, but it can even cross an ocean. “Carried” by the wind, vast fumes from the mega forest fires in Canada, underway for several weeks in many provinces of the country, arrived in Western Europe on Monday.

“The plume covers an area from the Iberian Peninsula to Ireland and the United Kingdom, and it should continue to cross parts of northern and central Europe” in the coming days, says Parisian Mark Parrington, expert at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.

What consequences should we expect? Over long distances, in this case several thousand kilometres, the smoke is generally transported to high altitudes. Suddenly, “this is mainly manifested by a foggy sky with red / orange sunsets”, says Mark Parrington.

Visually quite spectacular, this same phenomenon occurred in various French cities in September 2020 and July 2018, due to fires that ravaged areas of vegetation or forest in California for the first episode and in Canada for the second. At the beginning of June, the fires in progress in Quebec had also colored the sky of New York in orange. Many residents then described “apocalyptic” scenes.

VIDEO. New York trapped by smoke coming straight from Canada

Particles especially “above the ocean”?

An increase in the concentration of particles on the surface in Western Europe is also considered “possible” by Copernicus in the coming days. It could then “add to local sources of air pollution”, with possible health consequences, says Mark Parrington.

PM-10, for example, increases the risk of respiratory disorders. Nevertheless, in the current state of forecasts, “this phenomenon should not be particularly widespread on the continent and rather be located above the ocean”, adds the expert, who continues to follow the situation closely.

At the beginning of June, “very small” quantities of particles, also coming from the fires in Canada which were already raging in the country, had been identified in Norway. “We do not see a serious peak or a significant increase (…) We therefore do not see any environmental problem or serious health risk”, reassured Nikolaos Evangeliou, researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Air Research.