Deep Dive Into Canadian Fires/Smoke: Canada Nightmare, Dangerous Smoke, Climate Change and Politics

Wildfire smoke from Canada turns the evening sun into
just a red dot over Georgia, Vermont on 
August 3, 2025. 

 It's been a smoky summer here in Vermont and much of the rest of the United States because, as you've already heard. Canada is burning again. 

It's the third year in a row that Canada has experienced unprecedented fires. So far, as of earlier this week, 16 million acres have burned, and the fires rage on. Last year, about 13 million Canadian acres burned. 

In 2023, the big, bad year for Canadian fires, nearly 40 million acres went up in smoke. That year, and now this year, are several times worse than each of the other Canadian fire years on record. 

Down here in Vermont, we'd seen smoky days before. Usually from Canadian fires. But in 2023 we entered a whole new world, thanks to Canada's fiery new reality.  Two years ago, many of the big fires north of the border were close by,  in Quebec. 

Since the smoke didn't have far to go to bother us, so it was pretty thick by the time it crossed the border into Vermont. 

This year, Quebec isn't causing the problem. In July, that province had the lowest number of fires in the past 10 years, CBC News reported.

As of Tuesday, just five small fires were burning in Quebec. CBC continues: "The province has seen around 170 fires so far this year, which is more than 200 fewer than the 10-year average,,,,,,In 2023, over 4.5 million hectares of forest burned in  Quebec, compared to 3,000 hectares so far this year."

Much of Quebec just had a super dry heat wave, and prospects for a lot more rain up there are fairly slim.  Quebec forests might be on the verge of bursting into flames.

Some of the fires are burning in unexpected areas. Newfoundland has been oddly hit hard, as you wouldn't expect that stormy, chilly corner of the world to catch on fire all that much.

As of last week, three out of control fires burned near St. John's and in central Newfoundland St. John's is Newfoundland's biggest city with a population of about 110,000. Another fire recently started near  the south coast. 

The series of fires in Newfoundland have prompted evacuations for the past several weeks. More people might well need to flee this week.  Several homes have already been lost to the Newfoundland flames. 

As of August 6, this year was already Canada's
second worst wildfire year on record. 

More people are awaiting possible evacuation alerts as three out-of-control wildfires continue to burn throughout Conception Bay and central Newfoundland, and a fourth fire has ignited in Red Harbour on the Burin Peninsula.  

Oddly hot, dry weather has hit Newfoundland over the past week or two.  One town in Newfoundland hit 98 degrees last week, the province's hottest temperature on record.  

 HEALTH EFFECTS 

As of August 6, Montreal had been under air quality alerts five times so far this year, They got through last year with no such alerts, In 2023, Montreal was under air quality alerts on 19 days. 

Air quality alerts have been piling up in the United States, of course. You alway see tips on how to keep yourself safe from the smoke,  But there's really no escape from it. 

Wildfire smoke is obviously not good for us to breathe.    On days when the air quality index is around 100 to 200, it's similar to smoking a quarter to a half pack of cigarettes a day, May-Lin Wilgus, a pulmonologist and professor at UCLA told NPR.  

That's bad enough for healthy people.  Emergency room visits skyrocket during smoky periods. During the Canadian wildfires two years ago, emergency room visits for asthma in the U.S increased by almost 20 percent.

Wildfire smoke can exacerbate cardiovascular illnesses. Evidence is also growing the smoke can cause a higher risk of developing dementia.

Prospects for smoke clearing anytime soon are dim. The smoke from Canada has thinned, at least for now. But now, much of the western United States is bursting into flames, and that smoke will no doubt make cross country trips through the Midwest and East.  

The smoke probably won't entirely clear until the snow flies.      

POLITICIANS PLAY WITH FIRE

 True to form, U.S. politicians are sticking their noses into the Canadian wildfires, because they smell political MAGA talking points along with the smoke. So we get sad, silly moments like the following:  

Per CBC:

"In a Wednesday news release, Wisconsin state Rep. Calvin Callahan joined other Republican state lawmakers from Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota in filing a formal complaint against Canada to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and the International Joint Commission."

New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik also weighed in, sending letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney telling him, "The scale and severity of these fires continues to raise concerns about Canada's fires management and lack of effective deterrence of human caused fires."

I guess these Republicans are maybe suggesting Canada simply rake its forests like Donald Trump said California should do. Because cleaning and removing leaves, fallen trees, dead trees and more from  the nearly million square miles of forests in Canada is as simple as raking your front lawn in October right?

Forest management is of course a serious topic. It's just that Canada's vast, remote forests can't effectively be managed like many in the United States. Those Canadian forests are just not accessible enough for tree thinning and that sort of thing 

These Republicans are also kissing Trump's ass, trying to pretend to be in agreement that the U.S. should take over Canada as our 51st state so we can "do it right."

Never mind that climate change has increased the chances that Canada's forests will burn every summer.

"We're seeing the effects of prolonged drought, of a lot less snow in the wintertime, leading to drier soils, drier conditions and the early onset of the fire season in the spring," University of Vermont Professor of Forest, Ecology and Forestry recently told WCAX.

By the way, Stefanik, Trump and many other MAGA Republicans support greater use of fossil fuel and cuts to EPA rules that aim to tamp down climate change

If Republicans were honest, we'd keep our own house in order U.S. currently has a growing list of its own wildfires, many of which continue to expand and worsen as I write this. 

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said U.S. Republicans were throwing a "timber tantrum," with their whining about the Canadian wildfire smoke. 

"These are attention-seekers who can't come up with a good idea on health care or on making life more affordable... so they're playing games with something that's very serious."

I also noticed the MAGA politicians have shut their traps in recent days as Canadian smoke waned and western United States wildfires rapidly gained ground. 

Maybe we should send Callahan, Stephanik to manage our western forest, or as their god would say, rake those forests. 

Relentless Heat, Humidity To Make Vermont Flood Cleanup Difficult, Storm Chances For Added Nerves Wave

Williams Hill Road in Richmond is one of at least
hundreds of local roads in Vermont that need
to be repaired after this week's floods. Hot, humid
weather will slow recovery efforts. 

UPDATE: 1:15 PM

Am nervously watching scattered thunderstorms early this afternoon.

The Storm Prediction Center has introduced a marginal risk of severe storms over us, which means an isolated one or two could cause damaging winds in small areas.

Of course, I'm more nervous about renewed flash flooding. We definitely won't see anything as widespread as Wednesday night. Not even close.

But I'm watching some storms head toward the worst of the flood zones carrying torrential downpours.

Some of these might cause more damage in small areas or undo repairs made just in the past couple of days to some roads. Since soils are saturated, brooks are running high and culverts are compromised, I wouldn't be surprised to see parts of a couple towns take a hit this afternoon.

Trouble is, there's no telling which ones until the storms hit. So, keep an eye to the sky today just in case. 

The chances of this happening have increased since this morning, as thunderstorms are proving more numerous than first thought. 

Today's storms should diminish and disappear this evening.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

We get spells of humid weather with torrential thunderstorms here in Vermont every summer but this is ridiculous. 

Not only have we endure yet another apocalyptic flood here in Vermont, the heat and especially the humidity have been relentless. 

And will continue to be at least through Wednesday.  To make us all nervous, there are chances of storms nearly every day until then, and those associated downpours could be locally heavy. Which would make anyone nervous after all we've been through this week. 

Because I don't want to induce panic, any new flood problems created by added thunderstorms would be pretty isolated and definitely not nearly as widespread as what we experienced Wednesday night and Thursday.

HEAT PERSISTS 

 We've already had nine days this year in Burlington that made it to at least 90 degrees, include four this month. There's a decent chance we could do three more Sunday, Monday and Tuesday as the heat intensifies here and up and down the East Coast over the next few days.  

Nights have offered no real relief. 

Since July 4, the temperature in Burlington has not fallen below 67 degrees. It probably won't get any colder than that  until Wednesday night. Over in Lebanon, New Hampshire, Friday was the seventh consecutive day they made it to 90. If it gets to 90 today, they'll tie the record there for longest heat wave.  

All this is bad enough in normal times. During emergencies, like Vermont is experiencing now, it's downright dangerous. 

Everybody wants to help their neighbors. Mucking out damaged homes and businesses, clearing debris and repairing roads, bridges and driveways is really hard work when it's nice and cool out. In this weather, you have to be careful, despite your enthusiasm for lending a hand. 

Volunteers are bringing tons of drinking water to disaster sites.  If you are working there, take full advantage. Take as much water as you want or need. Don't be shy. Your body needs it. If the water starts to run out, I'm sure people will bring more right away. 

Bonus if the volunteers bring stuff to fix your electrolytes too, like Gatorade or Pedialyte. 

It's also OK to take breaks. In fact, you must.  The flooding has already tragically claimed two Vermont lives. Don't let the cleanup add more to this. Heat is the most deadly type of weather in the U.S. 

I'm not discouraging anybody from helping out. I'm just saying be smart about it. 

Each day today through Tuesday will be at least 85 in most places. Some spots will be 90 or a little more, depending on if you're in the valley and the placement and timing of those ever-present humidity-driven showers and thunderstorms. 

Also, unfortunately, it's not a good idea to cool off in the rivers and streams affected by the flooding. Familiar swimming holes are not so, anymore, as many have been rearranged, or filled in with rocks and debris. There might well be lingering contaminants from the flooding as well.

Sorry to be Debbie Downer here. It is what it is, though. 

By the way, the heat isn't just here. The West has been baking in record breaking heat for a week now. The eastern United States from the Gulf Coast to Maine will now be treated by this oppressive weather as well.

Record highs might be set in the South and Mid-Atlantic this week, as highs could reach 100 degrees as far north as Philadelphia

STORM THREAT 

Anytime it's hot and humid, there's a storm threat, with the potential for torrential downpours. 

Such is the case with this hot spell. The storms will be hit and miss, and are most likely in the afternoon and evening, which is the usual case.

Many of us will get no rain at all today, and almost everybody that does see rain will receive manageable amounts, with no added damage worries. But I think it's possible that a couple places might be bullseye by torrential downpours that could dump an inch of rain in a short time. 

That's not enough to cause local flooding on the scale we just had. But it is enough to undo some of the repair work to roads and driveways and such.  Again, these would just be isolated instances. Still, it would be disheartening to see that happen, especially if any of these torrential storms hit our hardest hit communities like Plainfield, Barnet, Barre, Lyndon and others.  

On Sunday, high pressure will dominate, so if any storms manage to pop up, which is iffy, they'd be brief, isolated and won't last long.  It'll just be hot.

A weak disturbance Monday could trigger a few widely scattered storms. They might become more numerous Tuesday and Wednesday as some cold fronts approach.

SWEET RELIEF

Those approaching cold fronts might be something we'll all appreciate. Signs are growing that we'll have at least a couple days of cooler, far less humid and more importantly, very dry weather toward Thursday and Friday.

During this hoped-for episode, dew points and nighttime temperatures could fall into the wonderful 50s. Daytime highs would stay in the 70s to around 80, but the air will feel fresh, not heavy.  

I don't know how long that great weather will last in what has been a hot, humid, stormy summer, but we'll take anything we can get at this point.