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Smoke from Canada’s wildfires has reached as far as Norway, according to scientists in that country. Scientists at the Climate and Environmental Research Institute in Norway (NILU) have been able to detect the increase in smoke using sensitive instruments and then confirm its origin using forecast modelling. People in Norway may be able to smell and even notice the smoke as a light haze, but they should experience no health impacts. The plume is expected to spread across swaths of Europe, but it’s unlikely people will be able to smell or notice the smoke. The Staten Island Ferry moves past the Statue of Liberty on a hazy morning resulting from Canadian wildfires on June 06, 2023, in New York City.
This winter had little snowfall in Atlantic Canada, followed by an arid spring.
According to The Weather Network, meteorologist Michael Carter, the capital of Nova Scotia, Halifax, had just 120mm of rain between March and May, around one-third of the usual.
A blistering late May heatwave brought Halifax temperatures to 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday, approximately 10 degrees Celsius above typical for this time of year.
However, it is thought that most of the flames were caused by human error.
According to Ellen Whitman, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, there is also suspicion that trees destroyed by Hurricane Fiona, which is expected to reach Atlantic Canada in September 2022, or killed by a forest bug infestation may be supplying more fuel than expected for the fires.
Over 100 wildfires are burning in Nova Scotia and Quebec, causing air quality health alerts in New York State and New England. Smoke from wildfires such as those in Canada is injected at high altitudes, staying in the atmosphere longer and able to travel over far distances. In 2020, smoke from California’s record-breaking wildfires was detected in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago deep inside the Arctic Circle. The smoke brings negative climate impacts, as it deposits soot on the snow and ice, darkening the white surface, which allows it to absorb more heat. The levels of soot arriving from the Canadian wildfires are not expected to impact Arctic melting directly. Still, the concern is that if fires in the high latitudes increase, more soot will deposit. As the climate crisis intensifies, wildfire seasons are expected to increase in severity, especially as droughts and heat become more common and severe.
