Canada Wildfires
Canadian wildfires and their impacts.
The 2023 Canadian wildfire season was one of the most destructive on record, which saw millions of acres burn from wildfires raging across the country, from Western Canada to Quebec. The fires forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate while burning a number of structures.
The fires produced incredibly large plumes of smoke that stretched from west to east across the North American continent.
New York City’s air quality reached a hazardous level on June 6, 2023, a product of the smoke from the fires that reduced air quality across the country. The smoke from fires in Nova Scotia and Quebec cast the east coast in a deep haze. The Quebec region experienced nearly 700 forest fires alone.
Other air quality alerts were issued in Baltimore, Boston, Raleigh, Minneapolis and St. Louis. The wildfire smoke extended down into the Ohio Valley as well.
Colorado, Montana and parts of Idaho were issued air quality warnings earlier in the month of May 2023 as a result of wildfires in Western Canada.
The total number of wildfires in Canada was reported at over 6,500 by the end of the wildfire season.
Satellite imagery of this event:
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