Irish Examiner view: Earth is becoming a globe of flames

The polluting consequences of wildfires can be seen across the world on almost any day of the year.

Traffic moves along last Wednesday in New York, amidst smokey haze from wildfires in Canada. Picture: Andy Bao/AP

It wasn’t just dramatic timing that the warning given to a University College Cork conference by former US vice president Al Gore that the atmosphere is being treated “like an open sewer” was marked by a miasma of eerie orange haze over New York City. The polluting consequences of wildfires can be witnessed somewhere around the globe on almost any day of the year.

Last weekend, the European Commission announced a doubling of its aerial firefighting fleet following devastating 2022 conflagrations in France, Spain, Germany, and Slovenia. Nearly 450 emergency workers have been pre-positioned on the ground for 2023. Significant outbreaks around Valencia with further fires in Asturias and Cantabria have already taken place in March.