Canada wildfire smoke affects WC final host region, may reach Europe

Massive smoke plumes from wildfires raging across Canada are degrading air quality in Canada and the northeastern United States, with the smoke potentially reaching the region hosting the FIFA World Cup final and even drifting toward Europe, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) said on Friday, reported Xinhua.

CAMS, the European Union's atmospheric monitoring service, said smoke from the wildfires has already triggered extremely poor air quality warnings in cities including New York and Philadelphia, as well as in New Jersey, which is set to host the FIFA World Cup final on Sunday.

The service has been monitoring a rapidly intensifying wildfire season in Canada since late June. Wildfires that broke out on July 13 along a roughly 500-km-long fire front in northwestern Ontario have pushed the province's estimated annual fire emissions to their highest level so far this year, as of July 16.

The wildfires are increasing concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), one of the pollutants most harmful to human health, along with other toxic substances, CAMS said.

"Our forecasts show the smoke continuing to move eastwards across the North Atlantic, and potentially towards Europe, highlighting the scale of wildfire pollution and how it can travel thousands of kilometres across borders and impact air quality in places far beyond the fires themselves," said Mark Parrington, senior scientist at CAMS.

Smoke plumes have also continued to spread over the Arctic Ocean and other parts of Canada, Parrington added.