"as the crow flies" which is calculated using an iterative Shortest distance is actually the "great circle" distance, or Because of the curvature of the Earth, the would be sent to Canada to assist in the effort, alongside others from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, a research officer from the Canadian Forest Office previously told CBS News.Now let's assume you have a private jet and you can fly in theįastest possible straight line between New Orleans, Louisiana andįorest City, Iowa. Biden said in June that firefighters from the U.S. Of the remaining wildfires being monitored, 203 were considered "under control" and another 100 were "being held," which is the label assigned when a fire is not under control but also is not moving.Ĭanadian officials have declared a "national preparedness level 5" in response to the wildfires, which means the country will deploy any resources necessary to combat the flames. On Sunday, air quality alerts were issued in several northern states from Montana to Indiana, and on Monday, air quality in Washington, D.C., Detroit, Montreal and New York City were among the top 15 worst major cities in the world, according to the Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.Īs of Monday, most of Canada's active fires were classified as "out of control," with 578 blazes in that category. Wildfire smoke traveling south from eastern Canadian provinces brought a marked spell of haze, fumes and copper skies to the northeastern U.S. There were 881 active fires burning in Canada on Monday, according to the latest interagency tally. In June, the acreage burned this year surpassed the amount of land burned in 1989, which previously held Canada's annual record, the country's National Forestry Database reported. The fires have scorched at least 10 million hectares - or over 24.7 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 4,148 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 east, Alberta had the second-highest number of active blazes with 121 while Quebec, which borders New England, had 108. Officials on Monday reported 372 active fires in British Columbia, along Canada's west coast. 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 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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