Heavenly over Austria: smoke from Canada reaches Europe!

Heavenly over Austria: smoke from Canada reaches Europe!

on Whit Monday, June 9, 2025, the sky over Austria and Central Europe is shown in a cloudy state. According to 5min.at, this can be traced back to a number of forest fires in Canada, the smoke of which was transported thousands of kilometers over the Atlantic. In the particularly affected southern regions of Canada, such as Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, over 100 foci have been recorded.

The rapidly growing number of forest fires is favors by exceptional drought and wind that promote the development and spread of the flames. This leads to the evacuation of thousands of people from endangered areas.

smoke from Canada reaches Europe

The aerosols from Canadian smoke not only cross the Atlantic, but also reach Europe. The first clouds of smoke pulled over the Mediterranean on May 18 and 19, followed by a larger cloud that met the northwest of Europe towards the end of May, such as Tagesspiegel. The EU-Erd observation program Copernicus also predicts new clouds of smoke for the coming days.

global effects of the forest fires

The Situation in Canada is not isolated, because there are important forest fires in the southeast of Russia, especially in the Republic of Burjatia and the Transbaicals region. These also generate pyrocumulonimbus clouds, which are thrown to high heights by the intensive heat and smoke. These developments in the forest fires not only lead to locally limited problems, but have potential on the global climate by transporting pollutants over long distances.

In summary, the latest events show that the forest fires in Canada have consequences not only for the affected regions, but also for large parts of Europe. [SPIEGEL] (https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/waldbraende-kanadischer-rauch-ueber-ueber-atlantik- after-allopa-a5ce08e1-6272-aa63-a6eff75244b) sees this as part of a larger climate and environmental policy problem that could require further attention in the coming months. The third wave of smoke this year could not only be a temporary phenomenon, but also indicate an intensifying global challenge.