Experts Urge Collaboration Over Blame Amid Canada-US Wildfire Smoke Controversy

Mon Oct 20 2025 23:59:01 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

As Canada faces record wildfires, US lawmakers are pointing fingers at its wildfire management. Experts stress the importance of collaboration rather than blame in addressing environmental challenges.

This summer, US lawmakers blamed Canada for the wildfire smoke impacting states like Wisconsin and Minnesota. However, experts argue that human-caused climate change is the root cause of worsening fire seasons. They advocate for cooperative solutions rather than finger-pointing, highlighting the need for focused efforts on adapting to and mitigating the health impacts of wildfire smoke.

As deadly wildfires raged in the Canadian province of Manitoba this summer, Republican lawmakers in nearby US states penned letters asking that Canada be held accountable for the smoke drifting south.

Our skies are being choked by wildfire smoke we didn't start and can't control, wrote Calvin Callahan, a Republican state representative from Wisconsin, in a letter dated early August.

Callahan, along with lawmakers from Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota, filed a formal complaint with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging an investigation into Canada's wildfire management.

Manitoba premier Wab Kinew quickly condemned the move, accusing the lawmakers of throwing a timber tantrum and playing political games.

By August, the wildfires had scorched more than two million acres in Manitoba, forced thousands to evacuate, and killed two people – a married couple who authorities said were trapped by fast-moving flames around their family home.

As September draws to a close, data shows that 2025 is on track to be Canada's second-worst wildfire season on record.

A study published in the Nature journal in September has revealed that smoke from Canada's wildfires has also had far-reaching, fatal consequences. It estimates that the 2023 wildfires - the country's worst on record by area burned - caused more than 87,500 acute and premature deaths worldwide, including 4,100 acute, smoke-related deaths in the US and over 22,000 premature deaths in Europe.

Wildfire smoke contains PM2.5 - a type of air pollution - that is known to trigger inflammation in the body. It can exacerbate conditions like asthma and heart disease, and, in some cases, can damage neural connections in the brain.

These are big numbers, said Michael Brauer, a professor at the University of British Columbia who co-authored the study. He added the findings show wildfire smoke should be treated as a serious health issue, akin to breast cancer or prostate cancer.

For some American lawmakers, the blame falls squarely on Canada.

Canada's failure to contain massive wildfires, Callahan wrote in August, has harmed the health and quality of life of more than 20 million Americans in the Midwest.

Their complaints raise the question: Could Canada be doing more to curb its wildfires – and by extension, their smoke?

Climate and fire experts in both countries told the BBC that the answer is largely no. Until we as a global society deal with human-caused climate change, we're going to have this problem, said Mike Flannigan, an emergency management and fire science expert at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia.

Metrics show Canada's wildfires, a natural part of its vast boreal forest, have worsened in recent years. Fire season now starts earlier, ends later, and burns more land on average. The 2023 fires razed 15 million hectares (37 million acres) – an area larger than England – while the 2025 blazes have so far burned 8.7 million hectares (21.5 million acres).

As of mid-September, there are still more than 500 fires burning, mostly in British Columbia and Manitoba, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Experts warn that hotter temperatures are making the land drier and more prone to ignition.

These are not only challenges faced by Canada, as the US has seen some of its most damaging blazes, including the 2023 Hawaii wildfires that killed at least 102 people. Both countries have struggled to keep pace, often sharing firefighting resources.

In Canada, strained resources have fueled calls for a national firefighting service, with emergency response currently handled separately by each of the provinces and territories. Experts emphasize the need for a collaborative approach to tackle these escalating wildfire challenges.