On the night of Monday, the first pollution particles from the smoke were measured at the Birkenes observatory, located in Birkenes in the east of Agder, writes VG. – In the worst case, people living along the west coast of Norway can smell the smoke and see thin fog, says Nikolaos Evangeliou, senior researcher at the climate and environment institute NILU, to the newspaper. Such particles were also measured on Tuesday and Wednesday. The reason is the more than a hundred forest fires that are ongoing in Canada. On Wednesday, news wrote that dangerous air is spreading over large parts of the USA and Canada. New York then had the worst air in the world. A haze of smoke from the forest fires lay over Manhattan in New York on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters Contains particulate matter The smoke has covered large parts of the northeastern United States and Canada for over a week. Such smoke contains particulate matter and is dangerous to inhale, because it can find its way into lung tissue or the blood stream. It can lead to asthma, respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases. According to researchers at NILU, it may be possible to see some haze or smell the smoke in Norway. – However, we do not believe that the number of particles in the air here in Norway will be large enough to be harmful to health, says senior researcher Nikolaos Evangeliou to NILU. Fire crews are working hard to put out the fires in Canada. Photo: AP Birkenes Observatory in Agder is NILU’s oldest observatory. It was established in 1971, and according to NILU, is one of the measuring stations in Europe that has been operated the longest. The observatory has long been among the most important stations in Europe for measuring cross-border air pollution, the research institute writes on its website. The Birkenes observatory, which has now captured particles from the forest fires in Canada, has been in operation since 1971. Photo: Leif Dalen / news
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