SANTO DOMINGO.– What began as an intense wildfire season in Canada has turned into an environmental crisis that now affects two countries.
Smoke from more than 800 active wildfires has deteriorated air quality across vast areas of Canada and the United States, prompting health alerts, the activation of emergency plans, and recommendations for millions of people to limit their outdoor activities.
According to the BBC, citing data from the Canadian Forest Fire Information System, 858 wildfires across Canada, most of which remain out of control. Thirty new fires were reported on Thursday alone.
The smoke has reached major urban centers such as Toronto, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis and New York, where authorities have warned of pollution levels considered harmful to health, especially for children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with respiratory or cardiovascular diseases.
According to the US National Weather Service (NOAA), cited by La Vanguardia, air quality alerts cover parts of the Upper Midwest, the Great Lakes region and the Northeast, while the US Air Quality Index classified the situation as "hazardous" in large areas of Michigan and Minnesota.
In response, New York authorities expanded their emergency protocols, opened hundreds of cooling centers, and began distributing KN95 masks to reduce the population's exposure to the particles present in the smoke.
A phenomenon that travels hundreds of kilometers
Although the flames remain concentrated mainly in northern Ontario, the wind has carried huge plumes of smoke hundreds of kilometers away, reducing visibility and causing skies covered by a gray haze in cities where there is no fire nearby.
The specialized firm IQAir ranked Toronto among the cities with the worst air quality in the world, while several US cities were also among the most affected on Thursday.
Meteorological authorities expect that wind direction will continue to determine the movement of the smoke over the next few days, although a change in atmospheric conditions could gradually improve air quality towards the beginning of next week.
Communities evacuated and material damage
While major cities face the consequences of air pollution, several communities in northern Canada continue to deal directly with the advance of wildfires.
According to DW, a wildfire in northern Ontario forced the evacuation of Indigenous communities, with some residents reporting the loss of virtually all their homes. Helen Paavola, chief of the Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, told local media that, following an aerial assessment, her community had been "reduced to ashes."
Firefighting efforts continue with hundreds of firefighters deployed in different provinces, while authorities maintain efforts to prevent the flames from reaching new towns.
More frequent wildfires due to climate change
Experts consulted by the BBC and ABC maintain that, although forest fires are part of the natural cycle of Canada's boreal forests, their frequency and intensity have increased over the last decade.
Laura Chasmer, a professor of Geography and Environment at Western University in Ontario, explained that the increase in extreme heat episodes and the progressive drying of vegetation have favored fires of greater magnitude and duration.
The researcher also noted that, while historically the fires were concentrated in western Canada, in recent years the major outbreaks have shifted towards eastern provinces such as Ontario and Quebec, bringing the smoke closer to some of the most densely populated areas of North America.
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