The strictly formulated statements and letters are full of outrage and outrage: The Republican US legislature says that Canada has done too little to contain forest fires and smoke that have polluted the air in several states.
“Instead of enjoying family holidays in Michigan’s beautiful lakes and campsites, Michigander are forced to breathe dangerous air for the third summer in a row, because Canada does not prevent and control forest fires”, read an explanation from the GOP congress delegation of the state, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wishokons, New York, New York, New York, New York York, Minnesota and Wishon, in Iowa, New York, New York, New York, Minnesota and Wishon, in Iowa, in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wishon, in Iowa, in Iowa, New York, in Iowa, New York ,, New York, New York, Minnesota and Wishon, in Iowa, in Iowa, in Iowa,
You have asked for more forest thinning, prescribed burns and other measures to prevent fires from starting. They have warned that the smoke violated the relationships between the countries and proposed that the United States could make it a problem with tariff discussions.
But what you have not done is to recognize the role of climate change – according to climatic researchers, a blatant and brief -sighted omission. It also ignores the oversized US contribution to heating gas from burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas, which cause more intensive heat waves and droughts, which in turn put the stage for more destructive forest fires, say scientists.
“If at all, Canada should blame the USA for its increased fires,” said Jennifer Francis, climate scholar at the Woodwell Climat Research Center in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
On Tuesday, the Canadian government announced almost 46 million US dollars in funds for research projects for prevention and risk assessment. But Corey Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary of the Minister of the Federal Energy and Natural Resources, said that international cooperation is required.
“There are no people who want to do foresters more than Canadians,” said Hogan. “But I think that also underlines the international challenges that are brought through climate change … We have to tackle this problem globally.”
The country “has been fighting in unprecedented prices in unprecedented tariffs since 2023 when Canada recorded its greatest running fire in record, said Ken McMullen, President of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs. The first fire of this year began in April, one of the earliest, and 2025 is now the second worst year.
From Thursday, more than 700 forest fires burned all over the country, two thirds of them out of control. According to the Canadian Interagier Forest Fire Center, 4,400 forest fires (72,520 square kilometers) have been burned this year so far this year. This is almost five times as far as burned in the United States this year. Most of the forest fires are started by humans, sometimes on purpose, but mainly accidentally, although McMullen said that lightning is the culprit in many Canadian fires, especially in remote areas.
McMullen said he was not interested in discussing the role of climate change, but showing data that something has changed. Sloughs and pelvis have dried out and water that was once stored on the back doors of the people in the Canada’s sea and sea communities is now often hundreds of foot.
“People can decide why this is so,” he said. “But something has changed clearly.”
Refuse climate change
President Donald Trump described climate change as a joke – a belief that has been reproduced by many in the GOP – and his administration worked to dismantle and decide the federal climate science and data acquisition of the federal government, whereby the Republicans have little or no pushback from Republicans.
He has proposed to revoke the scientific statement that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health and well -being – the central basis for US climate change. He has explained a national energy emergency to accelerate the development of fossil fuels, canceled grants for projects for renewable energies and the United States rejected the Paris climate agreement in order to restrict long-term global warming to 2.7 degrees (1.5 degrees Celsius) via predustrial level.
The Republican of Minnesota State Rep. Elliott Engen said he believed in climate change, but now is not the time to discuss “because we have people with asthma who are unable to go outside of summer”.
“This is not an immediate solution for my voters. That sounds like a blame without a solution being presented,” said Engen, under a group of GOP lawyers who asked the international joint commission to review Canada’s Waldfire management practices.
Democratic MP Chellie Pingree from Maine said that the forest fires were also at risk in their state of health and air quality, but blamed the Republicans
“Instead of accepting and working together this reality, to find proactive, common sense to prevent and alleviate these fires, the Republicans bury their heads in the sand,” she said.
The Democrat of Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore criticized the letter from her Republican colleagues at the Canadian US ambassador and said those who “deny that they deny about climate change should not write letters in which the actions of people are prescribed to try to contain it”.
Difficult solutions
McMullen, the Canadian Wildfire expert, said that the fight against the fire is not as uncomplicated as many seem to believe.
The country and its areas are immense and fires are often in remote areas in which the best – and sometimes only – procedures, if there are no residents or structures, is to burn them or “it will only create a different situation with which we will be used in a year or two or 20 years in a year,” said McMullen.
Prescribed burns to eliminate undergrowth and other ignition sources in some areas are not practical or possible in some forests and prairies that burn, according to experts.
McMullen has campaigned for a Canadian forest fire coordination authority to operate firefighters and devices where they are needed.
But what stops the deterioration of fires, “I don’t think there is a lot that you can do,” said Jonathan, climate researcher from the University of Michigan, Jonathan Overpeck. He noticed that hotter temperatures in Nordkanada melt permafrost what looks and the huge boreal forests burn far more likely.
Instead, the two countries should work together on climate change solutions “because our smoke is their smoke, their smoke belongs,” said Overpeck. “As long as this trend towards warming and drying is continued, we will get a problem with problem.
“The good news is … we know what the cause is … we can prevent it from getting worse.”
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