The smoke from hundreds of forest fires in Canada has now even reached parts of Europe after the US. In recent days, plumes of smoke have moved over Greenland and Iceland to Norway, scientists from the Norwegian Institute for Climate and Environmental Research (NILU) report.
Dust and smoke from the many forest fires in Canada are currently ravaging the United States, where New York, for example, turns completely orange. And that is not without danger, so the population is advised to wear a mouth mask again.
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That smoke has now also arrived in Norway, and seems to be on its way to the rest of Europe. However, we have no reason to panic, says the NILU. People may be able to smell the smoke in Norway and even notice it as a slight haze, but would not experience any health effects. Because the smoke comes from such a great distance, we only get a very diluted version in Europe, Nikolaos Evangeliou of the NILU explains to ‘CNN’.
According to calculations by the NILU, the smoke will also reach our country in the coming days. But we probably won’t notice much of that, since the smoke will lose almost all of its soot particles before it blows over.
The cloud of smoke can therefore do little harm to us, but it can have additional negative consequences for the climate. As the smoke travels over the Arctic, it can deposit soot on the snow and ice. This darkens the white surface and allows it to absorb more heat, which in turn accelerates the heating of the area.
That scenario is not very likely in this case, says Evangeliou. However, it could become a major threat in the future if the number of wildfires near the Arctic increases. This trend has already been seen in recent decades, and is expected to continue, it says.
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