Via New York Post

Canada has officially marked its worst wildfire season on record as hundreds of fires have scorched 29,000 square miles — sending an unprecedented blast of smoke throughout the US and across the Atlantic to Europe.

As of Thursday afternoon, 503 active fires burned across Canada, including 259 deemed out of control, according to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

The powerful fires have burned more than 8.1 million hectares, or around 20 million acres, across the country.

The acreage burned so far this year has surpassed the amount of land burned in 1989, which previously held the record, according to the country’s National Forestry Database.

It also surpasses the combined area burned in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Carbon emissions from the damaging blazes have reached as far as Europe, where its haze was so high up in the atmosphere it was visible from space. The wildfires this year have released a historic 160 million tonnes of carbon — the largest Canada has seen since monitoring began in 2003, and have surpassed the record set in 2014 of 140 million tonnes.

The total amount of carbon released this year is roughly equivalent to Indonesia’s annual carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels — causing significant alarm for scientists over what Canada’s fires may do to the air we breathe.

While Canada is still experiencing unusually warm and dry conditions, officials say there is still no end in sight, as the country’s wildfire season typically peaks in late July or August.

Cool cool cool. Canada is currently in the middle of the worst wildfire season on record. Not great for us.

The numbers are staggering:

503 active fires burned
259 deemed out of control
The fires have scorched 29,000 square miles
The haze was so high up in the atmosphere it was visible from space
It has released a historic 160 million tonnes of carbon

According to Canada’s National Forestry Database, the worst is yet to come because Canadian wildfires normally peak in July and August.

Happy Canada Day.