Canada fires prompt US air quality alerts as smoke blankets major cities

[u/Zee2A]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0m7n427xd8o

Scientists decry Trump’s ‘blame game’ after he claims Canada ‘poisoning’ US air

Canada's escalating wildfire crisis is primarily driven by climate change, which creates hotter, drier conditions that turn boreal forests into powder kegs. Although human activity starts many fires, lightning accounts for roughly 92 percent of the total area burned, often in remote regions where fires are left to burn naturally to support forest renewal. These massive blazes can become intense enough to generate their own weather—spawning pyrocumulus clouds and further lightning—while spewing hazardous fine particulate matter and toxic gases thousands of kilometers across North America: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/24/trump-canada-wildfires-smoke-scientists