Canadian wildfires trigger air quality alerts across 4 U.S. states
NBCMay 28
Canadian Wildfire Smoke Reaches Northern US
story
Image copyright: Scott Olson/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
Smoke from more than 100 active wildfires burning in Canada has drifted across the border into the US, triggering air quality alerts and warnings in several states, including Minnesota and Wisconsin.
On Monday, the air quality index in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota showed conditions ranging from "moderate" to "unhealthy."
The Spin
Narrative A
Human-induced climate change is causing scorching and dry weather that exacerbates the vulnerabilities and severity of fire seasons in North America. Lawmakers need to take urgent action to combat the worsening of climate change so that extreme weather events like this one don't become increasingly destructive and deadly.
Narrative B
It's a cop-out to blame destructive wildfires solely on climate change. A lack of fuel management and proper forestry practices are leading to massive fires in Canada, not climate change. Environmentalist propaganda has led to this issue of improperly managed forests, which are much more dangerous and destructive than responsible forestry and stewardship.
