Smoke from Wilfdires in Canada Reaches Greece

According to the Meteo service of the National Observatory of Athens, smoke from wildfires in Canada has reached Greece. Satellites captured imagery of the smoke in the Ionian Sea and Crete.

Canadian are worried that this could be the worst wildfire season in the nation’s history, starting earlier than usual on unusually dry terrain and rapidly intensifying. The resulting wildfires are now sending smoke toward the US east coast.

A smoky haze has enveloped some cities across Canada and the US and citizens have been warned to take precautions to deal with poor air quality. Meanwhile, satellite imagery has picked up areas of smoke across parts of Europe.

Smoke from wildfires in Canada reaches Greece

Satellite images captured by the US NOAA-20 satellite on Friday revealed elevated levels of smoke in the middle and upper troposphere over the Ionian Sea and Crete.

These images highlighted the dense nature of the smoke, which caused a notable reduction of up to 10% in solar radiation reaching the ground in certain areas of western Crete. A graph from the weather station in Kissamos, Hania, operated by the National Observatory of Athens, highlighted this effect.

Smoke from the wildfires was also detected in other parts of Europe. Using satellite imagery, the UK’s Met Office identified smoke from the wildfires across parts of the British Isles.

Satellite images from around sunrise this morning have picked up an area of smoke currently lying across the UK

The smoke can be traced back to the wildfires in North America and over the last day or so have given us some vivid sunrises and sunsets 🌅 pic.twitter.com/ZEGj0wtXbk

— Met Office (@metoffice) June 29, 2023

The blaze in North America

On Thursday, the Canadian Interagency Fire Center reported a total of 499 active fires across the country. Among them, 230 fires remain out of control, affecting provinces, territories, and national parks from coast to coast.

With 10 provinces, two territories, and national parks impacted, officials have issued a warning that this could be the most severe wildfire season in Canada’s history, with smoke posing an ongoing issue throughout the summer.

The year has already witnessed 3,055 fires, devastating an area exceeding 30,000 square miles, which is twice the size of Switzerland.

The fires have led to a significant decline in air quality across extensive regions of the United States and Canada. The air quality in the Midwest ranged from “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy,” with Chicago being ranked as the worst in the world in terms of air quality on Tuesday.

By Friday, the smoke had moved eastward, causing New York City to experience “unhealthy” conditions on the Air Quality Index. Although the smoke levels have not reached the extreme levels observed earlier this month, which resulted in darkened skies and breathing difficulties in at least 20 states and sizable portions of Canada.