Why are parts of North America covered in smoke from wildfires in Canada?

In recent years, North America has seen orange-hued skylines, smoke from wildfires and scorched forests as global warming contributes to forest fires. Many are in the north of Canada, home to some world's largest intact forest. Canada is experiencing more wildfires than in the past two years. A larger area of land has already burned this year, compared to the average for the previous 10 years.

Here are some interesting facts about recent smoke and wildfires. Why does Canada have so many wildfires? Canada is the second largest country in the world. It has almost a tenth the total area of forest on the planet and 24% of its boreal forests. Most of these forests are not accessible by road, and many are uninhabited. Forest fires are an important part of nature that helps to eliminate pests and unhealthy shrubbery. In recent years, however, both the size and intensity have increased. Climate change and rising temperatures cause drier forest conditions. Fires spread more quickly in drier forests. Lightning or campfires can start fires in populated areas. Mike Flannigan is a professor at Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. He noted that the area of land burned in Canada almost quadrupled since 1970. He said that warmer temperatures have extended the wildfire season, and "more lightning" is also contributing to fires. WHAT HAPPENED OVER THE LAST WEEK? Smoke follows the wind as fires grow and forest areas are scorched. Toronto, New York and Washington were affected by the worst air pollution in the world earlier this week due to fires that started in Ontario and Minnesota. Detroit and Chicago had the worst air quality by Friday. CAN THE FIRE BE STOPPED? While certain fires cannot be avoided, governments try to protect their communities by closing forests to prevent fires caused by humans, using non-flammable materials in high-risk areas and being more prepared. What has Canada done so far? The federal government has increased funding to fight wildfires. This includes C$316.7 millions ($227million) for aerial firefighting capability over five years, and C$47.8million for Parks Canada National Fire Management Program. Ontario spent C$271 millions on emergency firefighting during 2025-26. This was more than its budget of C$135million. The government has set aside C$150 millions for 2026-2027. WHAT MORE CAN BE DONE? Experts and politicians started calling for a National Response Organization after Canada's largest wildfire season in 2023 by area burned. These calls increased after the fires of 2024 destroyed a third of Jasper, a tourist town. Canada is the only Group of Seven nation without a federal agency dedicated to fighting wildfires. The provinces are responsible for a large part of firefighting. The Canadian Senate released a report in June 2026 that proposed funding for a modern fleet of firefighting planes, as well as a federal coordination office for wildfires. The report noted that wildfires have become a crisis, citing the area burned in the past few years. The federal government did not respond immediately to a comment request. Canada has approximately 126,000 firefighters working for towns, cities and villages. About 90,000 of these are volunteers. Ken McMullen is the president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs. He said that only 3,000 to 5,000 firefighters in Canada are trained to fight wildland fires. McMullen stated that a centralized approach could help coordinate, train, and move firefighters and equipment throughout the country when necessary. What are some other areas with wildfires? According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 2026 has been a fire-year above average in the United States, with 3.7 millions acres burning?year-to date compared to a 10-year-average of 2.7million acres. According to the U.S., fires are burning in the U.S. West with greater intensity. They have also charred more acres. This is because a record low winter snowpack has spread drought conditions to 90% of the area. Drought Monitor. According to NIFC, the United States has seen 40,000 wildfires this year. This is well above its 10-year average, which was around 31,000 at this time. A wildfire that burned an area as large as San Francisco in northeastern Spain forced thousands of people to flee. This summer, there have been nearly 20 reported wildfires in England and Wales. A historic forest near Paris has also burned and turned the skies black. (Reporting from Nivedita Balu, Toronto; additional reporting by Andrew Hay. Editing by Caroline Stauffer, Deepa Babington and Caroline Stauffer)

(source: Reuters)