Smoke from Canada’s wildfires has reached Europe
The smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada, which has already blanketed parts of the US and placed around 75 million people under air quality alerts, has reached as far as Norway, according to scientists in that country.
The smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada, which has already blanketed parts of the US and placed around 75 million people under air quality alerts, has reached as far as Norway, according to scientists in that country.
Over the last few days, plumes of smoke have stretched from Canada across Greenland, Iceland and made their way to Norway.
Scientists at the Climate and Environmental Research Institute in Norway (NILU) have been able to detect the increase in smoke using very sensitive instruments and then confirm its origin using forecast modeling.
People in Norway may be able to smell and even notice the smoke as a light haze but, unlike parts of the US that have seen hazardous pollution, they should experience no health impacts, said Nikolaos Evangeliou, a senior scientist at NILU. “The fires traveling from such long distances arrive very diluted,” he told CNN.
Over the coming days, the plume is expected to spread across swaths of Europe but it’s unlikely people will be able to smell or notice the smoke, Evangeliou said.
