A series of early-season wildfires in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia is spreading smoke across the Northeast. News outlets from Massachusetts to southeastern Pennsylvania are reporting that residents can smell and see smoke in the air, and experts are warning that the degraded air quality poses health risks to residents.
The fires
There are 14 fires burning in Nova Scotia, the largest of which, covering 43,095 acres, is the “largest wildfire in recorded history,” according to the provincial government. The fires have destroyed 200 homes and forced the evacuation of 16,000 residents, and are now threatening to spread to Halifax, the province’s capital.
Residents of neighboring New Brunswick were also forced to evacuate 400 homes. The province saw an “unprecedented” 15 fires break out Saturday, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said earlier this week.
“It’s really heartbreaking, there’s really a lot of helplessness,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said at a news conference on Wednesday.
The consequences in the US
As winds blow the smoke south and west, the National Weather Service has issued air quality warnings for southern Michigan and Wisconsin, northern Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
Massachusetts, particularly in the Boston area, was experiencing cloudy skies Wednesday from the wildfires. That day, and again on Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a Code Orange air quality warning for Philadelphia and its suburbs. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Tuesday that air quality would be unhealthy for sensitive groups, and a similar report was issued that day for the state of Massachusetts.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the health effects of exposure to particulate matter can range from relatively minor (such as eye and respiratory irritation) to more serious health effects (such as worsening of asthma and heart failure and premature death).
The role of climate change
It is unusual to see such high levels of wildfire activity before the start of summer in Nova Scotia’s generally cold, wet climate. But rising temperatures due to greenhouse gas emissions are bringing warmer springs and more dry spells.
Nova Scotia had below-average snowfall this past winter, and April saw less than half of its average rainfall for the month, making it the driest April on record.
“What’s unique about this situation is the time of year, the fact that it’s happening in May and it’s spreading so quickly,” said Anthony Farnell, chief meteorologist for Canada’s Global News.
“Climate change is contributing to the volatility,” Halifax Deputy Fire Chief Dave Meldrum said at a news conference Monday.
The risk of early season wildfires is expected to increase in the future due to ongoing climate change.
“Canada as a whole has warmed, including eastern Canada, and we’re projecting more warming in the future. So that warming would, yes, also increase fires in eastern Canada,” Nathan Gillett, a researcher with Environment and Climate Change Canada, a department of the Canadian federal government, told Global News.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has called on governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and 60% by 2035 to limit the rate of global warming.
The prospects
Scott Tingley, Nova Scotia’s forest protection manager, said most of the fires were “very likely human-caused.”
“A lot of it is probably preventable,” he said.
Dry, windy weather in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick this week has fueled the fires. The possibility of rain Friday night has given locals some hope of relief, but experts warned that lightning from thunderstorms could make matters worse by sparking more fires when it hits dried-out trees.
Nova Scotia has banned activities in forest areas, with a particular focus on any form of burning.
