Overview

• Satellite data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service confirm smoke plumes have crossed the Atlantic and are visible over Spain at altitudes between 3,000 and 4,000 meters, creating hazy skies in Extremadura and Málaga.
• In Western Canada, more than 1,600 active wildfires across Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario have scorched over 1.4 million hectares and forced the evacuation of upwards of 21,000 residents.
• Manitoba has declared a state of emergency and regional officials have issued air quality alerts as smoke and particulates drive pollution levels above health thresholds in parts of the province.
• Forecasters project additional high-altitude smoke plumes to drift toward Europe this week even though ground-level air quality is predicted to remain largely unaffected.
• The Canadian outbreak forms part of a wider surge in boreal blazes, with Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District emitting about 35 megatonnes of carbon since April—the highest seasonal total since 2018.