The Reason North America is Under Fire

July 3, 2023

Suhani Desai

11th Grade

Father Michael McGivney High School

Over the last few months, Canada has begun to experience one of the harshest wildfire seasons to date. Canada, which holds 9% of the world’s forests, typically experiences a wildfire season during this time of the year which usually extends from early May to October. This year, as Canada was hit with its most devastating fires, the fumes of the fires - which have reached almost every corner of Canada - have begun to spread south over the Canadian border into the United States. The hazy skies and large amounts of smoke have set new record highs of air pollution triggering shocking air quality warnings across Canada and the US.

The underlying causes for the wildfires in Canada are mainly natural causes such as lightning. Of course, one strike of lightning will not light everything up, it will only happen in certain situations such as when weather conditions are extremely poor, and these conditions persist for some time. Every year, lightning has started more than half of the fires in Canada. When weather conditions are hot and dry, the fumes of the fire begin to fuel up even more and along with the combination of wind, it carries the smoke through the atmosphere. These weather conditions will soon become a regular sighting for extended periods of time, as the effects of rising carbon pollution are influencing the earth’s atmosphere, which is quickly warming up. Relating this to many provinces in Canada, they have been undergoing much hotter temperatures than their usual norm and as a result, are experiencing extended periods of drought which directly poses a risk for wildfires.

As the wildfires continue to rage in North America, it raises serious health concerns for many people. The air pollution produced by wildfires contains a mixture of pollutants that as a result can lead to minor health issues or even much more serious issues. The reason is that even short-term exposure of only a few days can have detrimental effects because the particulate matter in the smoke irritates the respiratory system and affects how well the body functions, even in healthy individuals. The most at risk from these effects are “sensitive groups,” namely children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with pre-existing respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. 

Many well-informed experts are urging governments at higher levels to act more seriously to mitigate the consequences of the wildfires in North America as they spread rapidly. The federal government of Canada has allocated $346 million to train more than 1000 firefighters, assist in the acquisition of more firefighting equipment, and develop a satellite system to track wildfires and stop them from spreading throughout the country.