A massive wildfire in the prairie province of Alberta, Canada has spiraled out of control, fueled by strong winds and leading to the evacuation of over 20,000 people. Several energy companies have halted production and evacuated their facilities. The smoke from the large-scale Canadian wildfires has even crossed the Atlantic Ocean, drifting towards the United Kingdom.
According to a report by Bloomberg on June 2nd, Georgie Myers from the UK Meteorological Office stated that only a small amount of smoke is expected to linger during the flight. This smoke is trapped in a thin layer of high altitude and is predicted to have no impact on air quality. However, it may become noticeably visible on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Myers mentioned, “As the smoke remains at a high altitude, it is not expected to cause any impact, but it may bring some remarkable sunsets and sunrises.”
The Canadian wildfires have claimed two lives and forced over 25,000 people to evacuate from the provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta. Dozens of wildfires have been burning out of control, emitting dense smoke that has spread southward towards the United States, triggering health alerts and darkening the skies.
The provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba have both declared states of emergency. In a small town in western Manitoba, two people were tragically killed as they were unable to evacuate in time. The smoke from the wildfires has started to drift southward across the US-Canada border, prompting several US states to issue air quality alerts.
Myers mentioned that it is not uncommon for wildfire smoke to cross the Atlantic and reach the UK. Studies have shown that Canadian wildfires serve as a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions. The record-breaking forest fires in Canada in 2023 emitted four times more greenhouse gases compared to the national fossil fuel emissions in 2022.
A study published by NASA in the journal Nature in August of last year revealed that the carbon emissions from the wildfires in Canada from May to September 2023 were second only to the annual carbon emissions from China, India, and the United States.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service stated on May 31st that they have dispatched an aerial firefighting aircraft to Alberta and sent 150 firefighters along with firefighting equipment to Canada.
Canadian Natural Resources Limited announced on the same day that they have evacuated workers from the Jackfish oil sands facility in Alberta and ceased asphalt production.
MEG Energy Corporation in Alberta stated that they have voluntarily evacuated all non-essential personnel from the Christina Lake project and have disconnected from the power grid due to the wildfires. Although they are still producing oil, they will delay the start of daily additional production of 70,000 barrels due to the fires.