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Date Published: 30/06/2023

Canada forest fire smoke turns Spanish skies grey

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The sky in parts of Spain has turned smoggy as the smoke from Canadian wildfires drifts over Europe

Canada forest fire smoke turns Spanish skies grey

For the last several days, a grey sheen to the skies of western and central Spain has made some people wonder whether the ‘calima’, or a kind of Saharan dust cloud, is back.

In reality, the current smogginess over large parts of Spain, including Madrid, Extremadura, Huelva, Cadiz and Malaga, is not caused by dust particles coming up from the African desert, but rather by smoke drifting all the way over the Atlantic Ocean from Canada, which is experiencing the worst season of forest fires in its history.

More than 7.6 million hectares of forests in Canada have already been burnt up, according to official Canadian sources, and the smoke all that fire is generating has blown down over New York and now 7,000 kilometres across the sea to Europe.

The overcast skies seem more hazy than usual, and on some evenings this week it has been possible to look directly at the sun, which has had an orange, dusky glow.

The cloud of smoke is travelling at a high altitude, generally over 1,100 metres, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IMPA) and is composed of very small particles (less than 2.5 micrometres) and gases, especially carbon monoxide.

Authorities are insisting that the smog is not harmful to human health as it is so high up. A cold front moving across Spain this weekend is expected to clear the smoke from the skies, though.

Image: Archvie

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