The fires have scorched at least 8.1 million hectares - or around 20 million acres - of land across Canada this year. Plus, as CBS News previously reported, harsh weather conditions in Canada are fueling the fires and making it harder for firefighters to combat the flames.Īs of its most recent update, the interagency fire center has recorded 3,056 wildfires since the beginning of 2023.

Political leaders, including President Biden, and environmental experts have pointed to the causal link between rising temperatures driven by climate change, as well as drought, and the extreme wildfire season that Canada is experiencing now. The broad extent of the fires - from the westernmost provinces to the eastern ones - is unusual, particularly so early in the year, Canadian government officials have said. To the west, Alberta had the second-highest number of active blazes with 101 while British Columbia, along Canada's west coast, had 95. Officials on Friday reported 106 active fires in Quebec. Eastern provinces like Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia have been hit particularly hard this year by large and at times uncontrollable blazes. Out-of-control blazes have cropped up in nearly every corner of Canada and forced thousands of people to evacuate.Ī map updated daily by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre shows how widespread the wildfires have become. But with the season occurring annually from May until October, devastation seen from the outset this year put the country almost immediately on track for its worst season in more than 30 years. Wildfire season typically happens around this time of year in Canada, which is home to about 9% of the world's forests.

In late June, the smoke plume stretched as far as Europe, while air quality alerts were effected again for millions of Americans.

Thick bands of soot and smoke particles captured over the last month by satellite images showed the extent of the air pollution traveling south over the Canadian border and into the United States, producing hazy skies and triggering air quality alerts across parts of the country. Canada is experiencing its most destructive wildfire season on record, as hundreds of blazes burning from coast to coast continue to send tremendous plumes of smoke into the atmosphere.

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