The Netherlands will not have to contend with the smoke from the major wildfires in the western United States. According to scientists from Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth observation program, the smoke has now reached Europe.
Copernicus researchers claim to have noticed this on satellite images. It’s a little more subtle: there’s a depression off the coast of Portugal and “there’s a whiff of smoke in it.”
Scientists call the current wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington “more intense” than the fires that have raged in the United States on average in recent years. “The magnitude and intensity of these fires is much higher than what we have measured in 18 years since 2003,” said Mark Barrington, a Copernicus expert and wildfire scientist.
The entire United States is now dealing with smoke from fires. Although the smoke did not reach the Netherlands, we noticed something of it last Friday. Because smoke was rising in the atmosphere, the air in Holland turned milky white and the light was slightly red. The sunset was red, too.
Photo: Julanda Packer
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Door: ANP / Weeronline
