A Fire‐Driven Shift in Canadian Air Quality Concerns Mirrors Trends in the US

Abstract The summer of 2023 was the most significant wildfire and smoke season on record in Canada. Data from five different satellite instruments going back to 2001 show that Canada and most provinces and territories experienced peak visible‐wavelength aerosol optical depth and ultraviolet aerosol index values in 2023. Longer‐term, 2023 had the highest number of “smoke” or “haze” reports in weather records by a factor of two compared with the previous record in 1981, and by a factor of seven compared with the 1953–2022 average. These reports show an east‐to‐west shift in Canada's summer air pollution patterns. Smoke and haze in eastern Canada have decreased since the 1980s because of pollution control measures domestically and in the US. On the other hand, wildfire smoke has increased in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan since the 2010s, and is now the main air quality concern in western Canada. Interpreting the analysis here for Canada alongside previous work over the US, there was a shift over North America in summer air quality concerns from the east to the west. Climate model projections suggest more wildfire‐driven smoke in the future throughout North America, particularly in the west. In contrast to air pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes that can be addressed at the source through government regulation, a future with more wildfire smoke will require downwind mitigation and will be the responsibility of public health officials.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Earth s Future
Published
2025-12-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025ef007041
Primary Topic
Fire effects on ecosystems
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

A Fire‐Driven Shift in Canadian Air Quality Concerns Mirrors Trends in the US

Olivia E. Clifton, Douglas C. Morton, Norah MacKendrick, Sarah B. Henderson et al.
Earth s Future
Fire effects on ecosystems
article

A Fire‐Driven Shift in Canadian Air Quality Concerns Mirrors Trends in the US

Olivia E. Clifton, Douglas C. Morton, Norah MacKendrick, Sarah B. Henderson, Robert D. Field, Hiren Jethva, R. C. Levy, Omar Torres, Kostas Tsigaridis, Piyush Jain, Pamela Wales, Elijah Orland, Lesley E. Ott, Melanie B. Follette‐Cook, Cordy Tymstra, Tempest McCabe
article en

Abstract

Abstract The summer of 2023 was the most significant wildfire and smoke season on record in Canada. Data from five different satellite instruments going back to 2001 show that Canada and most provinces and territories experienced peak visible‐wavelength aerosol optical depth and ultraviolet aerosol index values in 2023. Longer‐term, 2023 had the highest number of “smoke” or “haze” reports in weather records by a factor of two compared with the previous record in 1981, and by a factor of seven compared with the 1953–2022 average. These reports show an east‐to‐west shift in Canada's summer air pollution patterns. Smoke and haze in eastern Canada have decreased since the 1980s because of pollution control measures domestically and in the US. On the other hand, wildfire smoke has increased in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan since the 2010s, and is now the main air quality concern in western Canada. Interpreting the analysis here for Canada alongside previous work over the US, there was a shift over North America in summer air quality concerns from the east to the west. Climate model projections suggest more wildfire‐driven smoke in the future throughout North America, particularly in the west. In contrast to air pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes that can be addressed at the source through government regulation, a future with more wildfire smoke will require downwind mitigation and will be the responsibility of public health officials.

Earth s FutureVol. 13(12)
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US), Goddard Institute for Space Studies (US), Canadian Forest Service (CA), Natural Resources Canada (CA), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), Thompson Rivers University (CA), BC Centre for Disease Control (CA), Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (US), University of Maryland, College Park (US), Columbia University (US), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (US), Morgan State University (US)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Openalex Percentile: Top 63%
Fire effects on ecosystems
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.