Over the past couple years, there have been 2,214 wildfires across Canada, which have burned more than 8 million acres. These wildfires are extremely severe and have exacerbated over time with currently, many wildfires across Canada, especially in Quebec and Ottawa, causing more than 9.3 million acres charred. These wildfires are severely impacting Canada’s environment and economy through the destruction of timber resources, thus resulting in costly losses. Lightning has the ability to spark wildfires and through its recent prevalence in Canada, the wildfires had started. Lightning can be caused by climate change as with this warmer air holds more moisture which provides the necessary fuel for thunderstorm development.
A result of this was decreased air quality through the massive amount of smoke. Wildfire smoke contains many chemicals such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, etc. This pollution contains fine particles (not visible to the human eye) that get deep into our lungs and bloodstream. These can sometimes lead to serious health effects, including death. It can even impact your health in very small ways.
This decreased air quality has even spread past Canada including the United States. Some of these states Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. These states along with Canada, have been significantly affected with decreased air quality. This decreased air quality has caused the recommendation to stay inside as it is too dangerous.
Overall, these wildfires have been immensely impacting the environment from Canada to the United States. To battle this, efforts have to be continuously pushed to battle climate change.
Ayan Kumar's Blog 