Canadian wildfires plaguing producers now visible from space

Wildfires have scorched almost 2,000 square miles in Southern Canada so far, and the ongoing heat and drought are not helping ag production. The number of fires already surpassed the 10-year average.

Wildfires continue to rage on in Canada, forcing thousands of people and producers to evacuate. Many of the fires are classified as “out of control,” meaning they are expected to keep growing.

Fires have scorched almost 2,000 square miles in Southern Canada so far, and the ongoing heat and drought are not helping farmers or oil companies out any with production —or providing an end in sight.

canadian fire graph.png

Take a look at this graph from the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. The blue bar shows fires this year by province and the red bar shows the 10-year average. So far, there have been 944 reported fires this year, which already surpassed the average of 806 with just over seven months left in the year.

The fires are even visible from satellite. NASA Earth tweeted out this picture they captured and it shows the smoke that is sweeping over Southern Canada as well as into North Dakota and Minnesota. That smoke does not come at a great time as those producers need to get in the fields.

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