Smoke from the US West Coast wildfires has reached Europe

The wildfires devastating California and other parts of the western United States are the worst in 18 years, with vast amounts of thick smoke affecting large areas of the North America and even reaching Northern Europe, scientists said Wednesday.

The fires, which began in mid-August in California and Colorado, are “significantly more intense than the 2003-2019 average for the whole country and the affected states,” according to data from Europe’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).

Oregon and Washington have also seen serious wildfires break out since the beginning of September, following recent hot, dry and windy conditions.

Scientists from CAMS, which is part of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, use satellite observations to track wildfire activity around the world. Fire activity this year in the United States has been “tens to hundreds of times more intense” than the average from 2003 to 2019 across the country as a whole, as well as in several affected states, they say.

“The scale and magnitude of these fires are at a level much higher than in any of the 18 years that our monitoring data covers, since 2003,” said Mark Parrington, a senior scientist for CAMS.

“A good indicator of smoke thickness is aerosol optical depth (AOD). Over the western US, AOD levels have been observed to reach values of seven or above; to put this into perspective, an AOD measurement of one already implies very hazy conditions and potentially poor air quality.”

While the heaviest smoke remained off the West Coast over the Pacific Ocean for several days, according to CAMS data and satellite images, it began to blow back across the United States and Canada in recent days.

Smoke traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to Northern Europe at the end of last week, and is forecast to do so again in the coming days, CAMS said.

“The fact that these fires are emitting so much pollution into the atmosphere that we can still see thick smoke over 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) away reflects just how devastating they have been in their magnitude and duration,” said Parrington.

The US National Interagency Fire Center said Tuesday that at least 87 wildfires were burning in 11 states. Many are filling the sky with choking smoke and pushing firefighters beyond exhaustion.

Firefighters look out over a burning hillside as they fight the Blue Ridge Fire in Yorba Linda, California, on Monday, October 26, 2020.

A man evacuates his home as flames from the Blue Ridge Fire approach in Chino Hills, California, on Tuesday, October 27, 2020.

Firefighters conduct a backfire operation in Chino Hills on October 27, 2020.

A firefighter uses a hose as the Silverado Fire approaches near Irvine, California.

Firefighter Raymond Vasquez battles the Silverado Fire in Irvine on Monday, October 26, 2020.

Flames rise from mountain ridges near a farmstead as a wildfire burns near Granby, Colorado, on Thursday, October 22, 2020.

Evacuees drive through a traffic jam exiting Big Thompson Canyon as the East Troublesome Fire forced residents out of Estes Park, Colorado, on October 22, 2020.

Structures burned by the Cal-Wood Fire are seen in Boulder County, Colorado, on October 18, 2020.

Flames from the Cameron Peak Fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado history, work their way along a ridge outside Estes Park on October 16, 2020.

An airplane drops fire retardant on the Bruder Fire in Redlands, California, on October 15, 2020.

Dr. Alex Herman, right, and veterinary technician Linden West examine Captain Cal, a 6-week-old mountain lion cub recovering from severe burn injuries at the Oakland Zoo Hospital in Oakland, California. The zoo later took in two more cubs rescued from the same fire.

Burned bottles of wine sit in a pile at the Castello di Amorosa winery, which was destroyed by the Glass Fire in Calistoga, California, on October 1, 2020. Wildfires have damaged and destroyed dozens of the region's famed wineries, many of them family-owned businesses.

A firefighter walks along a path as the Glass Fire burns in Calistoga, California, on October 1, 2020.

Vehicles burned in the Glass Fire sit outside of a home that survived in Calistoga on September 30, 2020.

The remains of guest houses smolder at Calistoga Ranch after the Glass Fire passed through on September 30, 2020.

Firefighter Abraham Garcia signals a water truck in Angwin, California, on September 29, 2020.

Firefighters watch the Glass Fire slowly creep across a clearing near Calistoga on September 29, 2020.

Damaged wine barrels sit stacked at the Fairwinds Estate Winery in Calistoga on September 29, 2020.

The Glass Fire burns in the background as Josh Asbury, an employee of CableCom, installs fiber-optic cable in Calistoga on September 28, 2020.

Residents of the Oakmont Gardens senior home are transported to safety as the Shady Fire approaches in Santa Rosa on September 28, 2020.

Cellar worker Jose Juan Perez extinguishes hotspots at Castello di Amorosa, a Calistoga winery that was damaged in the 2020 Glass Fire.

An officer with Napa County Animal Control rescues a cat after the Glass Fire passed through Napa Valley, California, on September 28, 2020.

The Glass Fire burns on a Napa County mountainside on September 28, 2020.

Flames from the Glass Fire consume the Black Rock Inn in St. Helena, California, on September 27, 2020.

Embers fly from a tree as the Glass Fire burns in St. Helena on September 27, 2020.

An air tanker drops fire retardant on the Glass Fire, which was burning near the Davis Estates winery in Calistoga on September 27, 2020.

Cal Fire Capt. Jesse Campbell works to save the Louis Stralla Water Treatment Plant as the Glass Fire burns in St. Helena.

A photograph of Charles Morton, a firefighter killed battling the El Dorado Fire, is displayed at a memorial service in San Bernardino, California, on September 25, 2020. Morton, 39, was a 14-year veteran of the US Forest Service and a squad boss with the Big Bear Hotshot Crew of the San Bernardino National Forest.

An inmate firefighter takes a break while working to contain the Bear Fire in Oroville, California, on September 24, 2020.

Inmate firefighters extinguish hot spots while working to contain the Bear Fire on September 24, 2020.

The Bobcat Fire burns near Cedar Springs, California, on September 21, 2020.

Wildfire smoke rises in Medicine Bow National Forest in southeastern Wyoming on September 21, 2020.

A deer looks for food in an area burned by the Bobcat Fire in Pearblossom, California, on September 20, 2020.

A woman takes photos as the Bobcat Fire burns in Juniper Hills, California, on September 18, 2020.

Wind whips embers from Joshua trees burned by the Bobcat Fire in Juniper Hills on September 18, 2020.

Firefighter Kirk McDusky walks past smoke rising from the Brattain Fire in Paisley, Oregon, on September 18, 2020.

A Juniper Hills home burns during the Bobcat Fire on September 18, 2020.

A firefighter battles the Bobcat Fire while defending the Mount Wilson observatory in Los Angeles on September 17, 2020.

Stacey Kahny fixes her hair inside her tent at the evacuation center at the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Central Point, Oregon, on September 16, 2020. Kahny lived with her parents at a trailer park in Phoenix, Oregon, that was destroyed by fire.

A charred yearbook lies in the debris as Fred Skaff and his son Thomas clean up their home in Phoenix, Oregon, on September 16, 2020.

In this aerial photo taken with a drone, red fire retardant sits on leveled homes in Talent, Oregon, on September 15, 2020.

A firefighter works at the scene of the Bobcat Fire burning on hillsides near Monrovia, California, on September 15, 2020.

President Donald Trump listens as California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about the wildfires during a briefing on September 14, 2020.

George Coble walks through his destroyed property in Mill City, Oregon, on September 12, 2020.

The Bobcat Fire burns in Angeles National Forest, north of Monrovia, California, on September 11, 2020.

Crystal Sparks kisses her 4-year-old twins, Chance and Ryder Sutton, as they escape the Obenchain Fire in Butte Falls, Oregon, on September 11, 2020.

North Valley Disaster Group member Kari Zeitler and Butte County Animal Control officer Linda Newman bridle up two donkeys wandering along a roadside in Berry Creek, California, on September 11, 2020. The donkeys were displaced by the Bear Fire.

A firefighter shoots an incendiary device during a back burn to help control the Dolan Fire in Big Sur, California, on September 11, 2020.

Dora Negrete is consoled by her son Hector Rocha after seeing their destroyed mobile home in Talent, Oregon, on September 10, 2020.

This aerial photo shows a destroyed mobile-home park in Phoenix, Oregon, on September 10, 2020.

A street is shrouded by smoke from wildfires in West Linn, Oregon, on September 10, 2020.

A tanker jet drops fire retardant to slow the Bobcat Fire in the Angeles National Forest north of Monrovia, California, on September 10, 2020.

Looking up San Francisco's Columbus Avenue, the Transamerica Pyramid and Salesforce Tower are covered with smoke from nearby wildfires on September 9, 2020. This photo was taken in the late morning.

Visitors of San Francisco's Dolores Park are seen under an orange sky darkened by smoke on September 9, 2020.

Wildfire smoke hangs over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on September 9, 2020.

Bejhan Razi, a senior building inspector in Mill Valley, California, checks out repairs on a lamp-post clock as the sky is illuminated by nearby wildfires.

People stand in Alamo Square Park as smoke hangs over San Francisco on September 9, 2020.

People stop to take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge as it is affected from smoke by nearby wildfires on September 9, 2020.

Firefighters cut defensive lines and light backfires to protect structures in Butte County, California, on September 9, 2020.

Flames shoot from a home in Butte County.

A Pacific Gas and Electric worker looks up at the advancing Creek Fire near Alder Springs, California, on September 8, 2020.

Lisa Theis unloads the last of her 44 alpacas after she evacuated her ranch in North Fork, California.

Flames burn at a home leveled by the Creek Fire in Fresno County, California.

A slide is melted at a school playground in Fresno County.