It’s funny, and not in a ‘ha ha’ sort of way, that the U.S. media barely even noted the Canadian wildfires that have been burning since late April, until last week, when the smoke from those fires crossed the border and began affecting the U.S.  Worse yet, though, is the fact that people are blaming Canada!  As if the Canadians started the fires, burned their own land and property, just to annoy the United States!  Did Mexico blame us the last several years when smoke from the West Coast wildfires surely traveled south to Mexico?  Sometimes, the U.S. can be a very arrogant nation.

Let’s look at some facts, shall we?  The wildfires started in the western provinces of British Columbia and Alberta and have spread to the eastern regions of Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario.  As of last Thursday, there were nearly 2,300 fires in nine of the country’s 13 provinces and territories that have destroyed approximately 9.4 million acres of forest and forced more than 100,000 people from their homes.  The province of Quebec has had 154 active wildfires, the most in the country.

So, what caused the fires?  The forest fires in Quebec were mainly caused by lightning, according to Reuters. Half of the wildfires in Canada are caused by lightning, and those fires are responsible for over 85% of wildfire destruction in the country.  The cause of wildfires in Alberta is still unknown, but fires in other parts of the country are believed to be caused by human activity, like discarding cigarettes from passing trains.  But those are only the immediate causes … there is a deeper, underlying cause.  Can you guess what it is?

An excerpt from Heated, an environmental newsletter to which I subscribe (and highly recommend) …

Canada is not truly responsible for this ongoing health crisis of wildfire smoke in the Eastern United States. That honor goes to climate polluters and climate obstructionists: those who have prevented action to slow climate change, despite knowing extreme weather events like these would become more frequent and deadly as a result.

It is a direct result of climate inaction that wildfire season is starting earlier, lasting longer, and burning more area. It is a direct result of climate inaction that hotter, drier weather and longer fire seasons have become more common.

Regarding these particular wildfires in Canada, it will take months for researchers to determine exactly how much climate change influenced them. But it’s safe to say these fires are exactly in line with climate scientists’ predictions of unprecedented events that would occur without action.

News outlet after news outlet has made it clear: the Canadian wildfires, and the resulting air pollution blanketing the U.S., are what climate change looks like. And while Canada is responsible for a good chunk of historical emissions that have caused the climate crisis, they share that responsibility with many other, much higher-polluting countries—including the United States.

The pollution blanketing the Eastern U.S. skies should thus not primarily serve as an opportunity to make jokey jabs at Canada. It should primarily serve as a solemn reminder that the consequences of global warming aren’t limited by geography.

In my view, the U.S. is far more to blame than Canada, as we continue to argue about climate change and policies that would reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.  When did you last hear someone say, “Sure, I’ll lower my thermostat and turn off half of my lights, walk to the mailbox instead of driving, cut back on meat consumption, reduce my use of plastics, compost my food garbage, recycle,  stay home instead of flying to Vegas for a vacation this year, and trade my gas-guzzling SUV for a more economical vehicle”?   Point made.

Americans can damn well stop complaining about the air quality and the smoke from the Canadian wildfires and stop blaming Canada, when we ourselves have contributed as much as Canada to the cause and spread of those fires.  The previous administration rolled back over 125 environmental regulations and pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accords … some of that damage has yet to be repaired.  Even today, I hear politicians and candidates threatening to reverse environmental protections, as many of them are heavily indebted to the fossil fuel industry.  And remember … it won’t likely be long, probably a matter of a month or two, before we start seeing wildfires in California and elsewhere in the west.

Bottom line here is that this is only the beginning.  The scientists have warned us for years, and we failed to heed their warnings, and this is the price we pay.  Worse yet will be the price our children and grandchildren will pay.