Wildfire smoke from Canada breaks emission record: EU monitor
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The EU's climate monitor predicts fire to continue to burn across forests for weeks or perhaps months.
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Flames from a wildfire along a ridge top north of Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada, on July 2, 2023 (AP)
Massive wildfires in Canada have already emitted twice as much smoke as the previous record for the entire year, according to the EU's climate monitor, and the fires are predicted to continue to burn across forests for weeks or perhaps months.
Approximately 30 million acres (12 million hectares) of land have been destroyed by the destructive wildfires so far this year, an area greater than Cuba or South Korea.
More than 100 million people have been impacted by the enormous plumes of smoke that have obstructed the air in Canada and the neighboring United States -- sometimes causing flights to be delayed -- and required the cancellation of outdoor events.
Since the fire season started at the beginning of May, according to Europe's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), the blazes have been monitored as they have scorched a sizable portion of the nation.
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It stated that as of the end of July, the overall carbon emissions for the year have reached double that of the complete annual smoke pollution from 2014, the previous record year.
The fire emissions had "continued to increase almost continuously to a level which is already considerably higher than the previous annual total fire emissions for Canada in our dataset," according to CAMS Senior Scientist Mark Parrington.
"As fire emissions from boreal regions typically peak at the end of July and early August, the total is still likely to continue rising for some more weeks and we will continue to monitor."
In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfires normally rage from May to October, peaking in the hottest and driest months of the year, July and August.
In addition to significant flames in Russia, this year has seen widespread, record-breaking fires across Canada.
Recently, the wildfires have spread further north, even into the Arctic Circle, emitting "significant smoke", according to a statement from CAMS.
According to CAMS, whose records date back to 2003, the current total wildfire carbon emissions from Canada are roughly 290 megatons, compared to the previous record of 138 megatons set in 2014.
Canada is one of the planet's fastest-warming countries, and climate change has increased the severity and frequency of the extreme weather events the nation experiences.
