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JAKARTA – Americans witnessed an extraordinary bright red sun last week. This scene makes for great photographs, but the cause of this change is not pleasant.

The bright colors are due to the 84 wildfires that have hit parts of Canada, including Alberta, and are expected to continue for the next few days.

Smoke from the ongoing fires spread 2,000 miles (3,600 km), creating a layer of haze that blanketed the sun, causing it to appear an emergency red. Residents of New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Illinois and Iowa are among those witnessing this bright red sun.

Meteorologists say smoke particles were carried by jetstream across the United States in the Northeast region, causing poor air quality. The fiery bright red color is caused by smoke particles filtering out the shorter wavelengths of light, so only the red and orange wavelengths are visible. The sun also seemed weak due to the thick smoke blowing in from Canada.

Wildfires have scorched nearly a million hectares in western Canada, mostly in the northwestern province of Alberta. More than 30,000 people were evacuated from the area to escape the fires.

The fires started as Canada experienced an unusually dry spring accompanied by heat waves.

National Weather Service (NWS) in Montana said the air quality was very unhealthy and advised people to stay indoors as much as possible. A similar warning was issued for eastern Colorado.

“If the smoke is thick or getting thick in your neighborhood, you may want to stay indoors. This is especially true for people with heart conditions, respiratory conditions, toddlers and the elderly,” read the warning.

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality also warned that air quality would remain “unhealthy for sensitive groups” through Monday, May 20.

However, the NWS in New York said the smoke was above 20,000 feet and would not cause health problems for people with respiratory illnesses in the northeastern United States.

While Canadians fight the fires, Americans have watched the red sunrise and sunset for more than a week. “Watch the very red sun rising over New York City. This is caused by wildfire smoke moving overhead from the fires in Canada,” the NWS wrote. Daily mail.

The tweet then sparked the sharing of sunrise and sunset images that appear to have been taken with a camera filter.

Satellite images shared by the NWS show smoke moving across the northern United States and blanketing eastern states in pollutants.

Alberta officials are hoping cooler temperatures and rain expected in the coming weeks will help firefighters fight blazes in the oil-rich province, though storms may hamper those efforts.

This year, Alberta Wildfire managed 496 fires burning more than two million acres, compared to just 1,134 in 2022.

“This year’s total is nearly 2,000 times greater than last year’s,” Christie Tucker, Alberta Wildfire’s information unit manager, said in a statement.

However, a strange red sun has been visible since last week and is expected to continue for the next few days.

Record temperatures this year and a lack of rain have caused widespread fires across Canada.

Alberta was the hardest hit region, with some 275 homes, businesses and other property damaged and more than 10,000 people forced to flee their homes on Friday.

Josée St-Onge, Information Officer for Alberta Wildfire, said in an interview with Radio Canada on the morning of Saturday May 20 that the fire brigade continued to work.

“Good progress in fighting these numerous wildfires, building fences and fire substations around the community, but we had a tough day today,” he said.

“It will definitely be a long journey. A fire of this size will burn very intensely,” added St-Onge.

Tags: sun canada forest fires