Smoke from Canada's wildfires reaches Norway

Ottawa [Canada], June 10 (ANI)

The smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada, has reached as far as Norway, as per scientists, CNN reported.

The smoke from wildfires in Canada has already blanketed parts of the US and placed around 75 million people under air quality alerts. Over the last few days, however, plumes of smoke have stretched from Canada across Greenland, Iceland and made their way to Norway.

Scientists at the Climate and Environmental Research Institute in Norway (NILU) have been able to detect the increase in smoke using very sensitive instruments and then confirm its origin using forecast modelling.

A senior scientist at NILU, Nikolaos Evangeliou, said that people in Norway may be able to smell and even notice the smoke as a light haze but, unlike parts of the US that have seen hazardous pollution, they should experience no health impacts.

"The fires travelling from such long distances arrive very diluted," Evangeliou told CNN.

The plume is expected to spread across Europe over the coming days. But it's unlikely that people will be able to smell or notice the smoke, Evangeliou said.

It's not unusual for wildfire smoke to travel long distances. "Smoke from wildfires such as those in Canada is injected at high altitudes thus staying in the atmosphere longer and able to travel over far distances," he said.

In 2020, smoke from California's record-breaking wildfires was detected in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located deep inside the Arctic Circle.

The smoke brings negative climate impacts. Wildfire smoke moving over the Arctic deposits soot on the snow and ice, darkening the white surface, which allows it to absorb more heat. This, in turn, accelerates Arctic warming, as per CNN.