Smoke from main fires in California and Canada used to veil the French sky.
The pictures from New York are spectacular: the skyscrapers and monuments are camouflaged behind an omnipresent orange veil, witnesses unfold an “unbreathable” environment … The American metropolis has been hit by smoke from greater than 150 fires which are ravaging Canada since Tuesday , though there’s a distance of 800 kilometers between these two factors.
Do the winds favor the arrival of the fumes in Europe?
This is because of climate situations in Canada and the USA. Nova Scotia and Quebec are at present in a low-pressure system, whereas New York is experiencing a northwesterly wind, meteorologist Guillaume Séchet advised BFMTV.com.
Nonetheless, the meteorologist factors out that France shouldn’t be affected by these fumes within the coming days. And in any case, if the smoke have been billowing throughout French skies — as was the case again in 2020 with the big fires in California, the place Paris skies have been shrouded in smoke — France wouldn’t be “not so badly affected.” like New York,” mentioned Guillaume Séchet.
Simulations of how the smoke from these fires would unfold to the USA exist and are being circulated on social networks, however none are at present out there for Europe, he says.
When western currents are at work, it takes “5 to 7 days” for a disturbance to journey from the USA to France and Europe typically, explains Guillaume Séchet. At the moment, nevertheless, the development is extra in the direction of currents from the east or from the south: particularly, France is not going to be affected by the air from the USA or Canada within the coming days.
If the fires in Canada proceed, this situation is feasible, however “not within the subsequent ten days,” mentioned Guillaume Séchet.
The fumes quickly unfold throughout the planet
Nonetheless, the specialist reminds that in some unspecified time in the future, “in just a few weeks, just a few months”, the fumes will “be emitted everywhere in the planet” as a result of “all the pieces is combined” in our planet’s distinctive environment. Nonetheless, this “will not be seen in Europe”.
In the USA, and in New York particularly, concentrations of tremendous particulate matter within the air have reached at the very least 16 instances the restrict set by the WHO for the reason that air pollution episode started.