'Human caused' Manitoba wildfire data misused to downplay climate impact
"100 of the 111 FIRES in Manitoba right now are confirmed HUMAN CAUSED," reads the caption of a June 3, 2025 X post. "The MEDIA will make you believe otherwise, like it's climate or something."
The post includes what appears to be a collection of government data showing that the majority of wildfires in Manitoba have human origins.
Similar posts on Facebook, Instagram and X shared the numbers while also claiming the media and government were incorrectly citing climate change as the cause of the size of the blazes.
Image
Screenshot of an X post taken June 6, 2025
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Screenshot of an Instagram post taken June 5, 2025
Canadian wildfires have already forced over 31,000 people to evacuate in 2025, as far away as Europe.
Across the country, the area burned by wildfires is nowhere near the level of Canada's record-breaking 2023 season, but is for this point in the year, according to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (archived here and here).
A reference to "gas" and comments on many of the posts claiming "arson" echo allegations of intentionally started fires, which emerge during many wildfire events and are often used to promote false claims that environmentalists are burning forests to prove the existence of climate change.
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Screenshot of comments on a Facebook post taken June 5, 2025
government data reports 100 of 113 fires in Manitoba are human caused (archived here), but a spokesperson for the province said this label denotes any fire started by something other than lightning.
"It does not mean 'arson,' it could be a hot exhaust pipe on an ATV in long grass, or a campfire or burn pile not properly extinguished," the spokesperson said.
Glenn Miller, the director of Manitoba Wildfire Service, also explained the distinction to reporters in a press conference on May 8, 2025 (archived here).
"When we use the words 'human caused' it's very broad and it's not necessarily arson, but arson can be at play for sure," he said.
Few arson arrests
The Manitoba division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) told AFP it had made arson-related arrests after the start of two separate wildfires on May 7 (archived here).
Both cases involved controlled burns -- a practice of burning away dry organic matter to eliminate potential fuel for future wildfires (archived here) -- which could not be contained due to weather, the RCMP said.
Contrary to claims on social media, there were news reports on the arrests and their connection to the wildfires.
The RCMP in the province and AFP could not find any other reports about such cases.
Climate change impact
Laura Chasmer, an associate professor of geography and environment at the University of Lethbridge (archived here), told AFP a fire's origin is just "one part of the puzzle"
"If the fuel conditions are really dry because you've had really warm, dry weather, then that vegetation, that biomass, or even the organic matter on the ground, that's going to burn," she on June 5 (archived here and here).
Chasmer also explained that gusty conditions in Manitoba and other Canadian prairie provinces facilitated the spread of recent wildfires.
In Canada, the past 20 years of warmer weather and recent prolonged droughts sucking up moisture, which would have previously slowed down blazes, contribute to more intense wildfire seasons, she remarked.
"Fires are becoming a big problem now," she said. "It's just everywhere, every summer."
Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
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AFP
a day ago
- AFP
'Human caused' Manitoba wildfire data misused to downplay climate impact
"100 of the 111 FIRES in Manitoba right now are confirmed HUMAN CAUSED," reads the caption of a June 3, 2025 X post. "The MEDIA will make you believe otherwise, like it's climate or something." The post includes what appears to be a collection of government data showing that the majority of wildfires in Manitoba have human origins. Similar posts on Facebook, Instagram and X shared the numbers while also claiming the media and government were incorrectly citing climate change as the cause of the size of the blazes. Image Screenshot of an X post taken June 6, 2025 Image Screenshot of an Instagram post taken June 5, 2025 Canadian wildfires have already forced over 31,000 people to evacuate in 2025, as far away as Europe. Across the country, the area burned by wildfires is nowhere near the level of Canada's record-breaking 2023 season, but is for this point in the year, according to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (archived here and here). A reference to "gas" and comments on many of the posts claiming "arson" echo allegations of intentionally started fires, which emerge during many wildfire events and are often used to promote false claims that environmentalists are burning forests to prove the existence of climate change. Image Screenshot of comments on a Facebook post taken June 5, 2025 government data reports 100 of 113 fires in Manitoba are human caused (archived here), but a spokesperson for the province said this label denotes any fire started by something other than lightning. "It does not mean 'arson,' it could be a hot exhaust pipe on an ATV in long grass, or a campfire or burn pile not properly extinguished," the spokesperson said. Glenn Miller, the director of Manitoba Wildfire Service, also explained the distinction to reporters in a press conference on May 8, 2025 (archived here). "When we use the words 'human caused' it's very broad and it's not necessarily arson, but arson can be at play for sure," he said. Few arson arrests The Manitoba division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) told AFP it had made arson-related arrests after the start of two separate wildfires on May 7 (archived here). Both cases involved controlled burns -- a practice of burning away dry organic matter to eliminate potential fuel for future wildfires (archived here) -- which could not be contained due to weather, the RCMP said. Contrary to claims on social media, there were news reports on the arrests and their connection to the wildfires. The RCMP in the province and AFP could not find any other reports about such cases. Climate change impact Laura Chasmer, an associate professor of geography and environment at the University of Lethbridge (archived here), told AFP a fire's origin is just "one part of the puzzle" "If the fuel conditions are really dry because you've had really warm, dry weather, then that vegetation, that biomass, or even the organic matter on the ground, that's going to burn," she on June 5 (archived here and here). Chasmer also explained that gusty conditions in Manitoba and other Canadian prairie provinces facilitated the spread of recent wildfires. In Canada, the past 20 years of warmer weather and recent prolonged droughts sucking up moisture, which would have previously slowed down blazes, contribute to more intense wildfire seasons, she remarked. "Fires are becoming a big problem now," she said. "It's just everywhere, every summer." Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.
France 24
2 days ago
- France 24
School's out: climate change keeps Pakistan students home
Searing heat, toxic smog and unusual cold snaps have all caused closures that are meant to spare children the health risks of learning in classrooms that are often overcrowded and lack basic cooling, heating or ventilation systems. In May, a nationwide heatwave saw temperatures up to seven degrees Celsius above normal, hitting 45C (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in Punjab and prompting several provinces to cut school hours or start summer holidays early. "The class becomes so hot that it feels like we are sitting in a brick kiln," said 17-year-old Hafiz Ehtesham outside an inner city Lahore school. "I don't even want to come to school." Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with limited resources for adaptation, and extreme weather is compounding an existing education crisis caused mostly by access and poverty. "Soon we will have major cognitive challenges because students are being impacted by extreme heat and extreme smog over long periods of time," said Lahore-based education activist Baela Raza Jamil. "The poorest are most vulnerable. But climate change is indeed a great leveller and the urban middle class is also affected." Pakistan's summers historically began in June, when temperatures hit the high 40s. But in the last five years, May has been similarly hot, according to the Meteorological Department. "During a power outage, I was sweating so much that the drops were falling off my forehead onto my desk," 15-year-old Jannat, a student in Lahore, told AFP. "A girl in my class had a nosebleed from the heat." Health versus learning Around a third of Pakistani school-age children -- over 26 million -- are out of school, according to government figures, one of the highest numbers in the world. And 65 percent of children are unable to read age-appropriate material by age 10. School closures affect almost every part of Pakistan, including the country's most populous province Punjab, which has the highest rates of school attendance. Classes closed for two weeks in November over air pollution, and another week in May because of heat. In the previous academic year, three weeks were lost in January to a cold snap and two weeks in May due to heat. Political unrest and cricket matches that closed roads meant more lost days. In Balochistan, Pakistan's poorest province, May heatwaves have prompted early summer vacations for three years running, while in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, school hours are regularly slashed. For authorities, the choice is often between sending children to school in potentially dangerous conditions or watching them fall behind. In southern Sindh province, authorities have resisted heat-related closures despite growing demands from parents. "It's hard for parents to send their children to school in this kind of weather," private school principal Sadiq Hussain told AFP in Karachi, adding that attendance drops by 25 percent in May. "Their physical and mental health is being affected," added Dost Mohammad Danish, general secretary of All Sindh Private Schools and Colleges Association. "Don't expect better scientists from Pakistan in the coming years." 'Everyone is suffering' Schools in Pakistan are overseen by provincial authorities, whose closure notices apply to all schools in a region, even when they are hundreds of kilometres (miles) apart and may be experiencing different conditions, or have different resources to cope. Teachers, parents and education experts want a rethink of school hours, exam timetables and vacations, with schools able to offer Saturday classes or split the school day to avoid the midday heat. Izza Farrakh, a senior education specialist at the World Bank, said climate change-related impacts are affecting attendance and learning outcomes. "Schools need to have flexibility in determining their academic calendar. It shouldn't be centralised," she said, adding that end-of-year exams usually taken in May could be replaced by regular assessments throughout the year. Adapting school buildings is also crucial. International development agencies have already equipped thousands of schools with solar panels, but many more of the country's 250,000 schools need help. Hundreds of climate-resilient schools funded by World Bank loans are being built in Sindh. They are elevated to withstand monsoon flooding, and fitted with solar panels for power and rooftop insulation to combat heat and cold. But in Pakistan's most impoverished villages, where education is a route out of generational poverty, parents still face tough choices. In rural Sukkur, the local school was among 27,000 damaged or destroyed by unprecedented 2022 floods. Children learn outside their half-collapsed school building, unprotected from the elements.
Euronews
2 days ago
- Euronews
Smoke from intense Canadian wildfires reaches Europe
Canada's wildfire season has got off to a dangerous start, with thousands of people forced to flee their homes and blankets of smoke affecting air quality across eastern North America. Following a series of record-breaking seasons, data shows that 2025 is also shaping up to be another intense year. Twice a day, a NASA satellite sends images to the ground, giving a real-time view of where fires are burning. This is especially useful for remote areas where no sensors are stationed. As of Tuesday, that satellite had picked up four times as many fire hot spots across Canada than is typical for early June. That's more than any year since the satellite began transmitting in 2012, except 2023, according to data from Global Forest Watch. Though the satellite has recorded thousands of hot spots so far this year, that does not mean there are actually that many active fires. Each hot spot could be detected repeatedly over the course of days. And because each detection is about the size of 26 football fields, each point of data might be one part of a much larger blaze, said James MacCarthy, wildfire research manager at Global Forest Watch. Based on data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, about 200 fires are actively burning in Canada and have consumed about 19,900 square kilometres of terrain, most of it in the last week. Only 2023 saw such high numbers so early in Canada's fire season, which runs from April through October. That year, wildfires burned a record 170,000 square kilometres - more than twice the surface area of Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes. Taken together, the hot spots and area burned mean 2025 is the second-worst start to the season in years. Smoke from Canadian wildfires worsened air quality in the eastern US on Wednesday as several Midwestern states battled conditions deemed unhealthy by the federal government. It lingered on the skylines of cities from Kansas City to Minneapolis, and a swath of the region had unhealthy air quality according to an Environmental Protection Agency map. Over the last few days, air quality alerts have been issued in several states, including New York, New Jersey, Iowa, New Hampshire and Maine. The EU's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) said this week that smoke from wildfires in the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan had even been transported across the Atlantic, reaching Europe. An initial plume crossed the Mediterranean region on 18 to 19 May, reaching as far east as Greece. A second, larger plume crossed the Atlantic in the last week of May, reaching northwestern parts of Europe on 1 June. The smoke isn't expected to have any significant impact on Europe's air quality as it is high up in the atmosphere. Typically, the effects of plumes like this are more hazy skies with red or orange sunsets. But, says Mark Parrington, senior scientist of CAMS, the fact that the smoke can be observed in Europe 'is a reflection of the scale of the fires and the impacts they have been having in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.' 'Wildfires are a frequent occurrence in boreal forests from spring and through the summer months,' Parrington adds. 'Up to the beginning of June, our data is showing that central regions of Canada have experienced a very intense few weeks in terms of wildfire emissions.' 'A warm and dry finish to May and early June has created a significant fire season,' said Liam Buchart, a fire weather specialist with the Canadian Forest Service. The weather conditions are made more likely by climate change and encourage wildfires to start. That means even though 90 per cent of wildfires in Manitoba this year have been human-caused, according to the provincial government, climate change helps enable their spread. 'Climate change is creating the conditions that make it more likely that human-caused fires are going to spread, or even start,' MacCarthy said. 'It might be a human starting it, but it's going to spread quickly because now there's hot and dry conditions that are occurring more frequently and more intensely than they have in the past.' The hot and dry weather is likely to continue for at least the next week across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, according to Natural Resources Canada. The agency's forecasts also call for 'a warmer and drier than normal July and August for large portions of Canada,' Buchart said. 'The remainder of the fire season looks to remain above normal, especially over the northern prairie provinces and southern British Columbia,' he said. Local residents and an MEP from the Left Group in the European Parliament are today (4 June) making an official complaint to the European Ombudsman about the Acciaierie d'Italia steel mill, still known by its former name Ilva, in the southern city of Taranto. Despite opening an infringement procedure against Italy in 2013 for breaching environmental laws at the site, the EU has failed to escalate it appropriately, they say. During that 12-year wait, residents are continuing to suffer the consequences of air, soil and groundwater pollution in Taranto, which numerous studies have linked to higher rates of cancer and other diseases. 'Today, we turn to the Ombudsman with a sense of responsibility but also with deep bitterness,' says Alessandro Marescotti, a Taranto resident and president of the Associazione PeaceLink, an NGO which is also listed as a complainant on the document seen by Euronews Green. 'We do so because we no longer have much confidence in the European Commission. The Commission had years to intervene. It received reports, studies, and appeals. Meanwhile, in Taranto, many people have fallen ill and died,' he says. 'The case of the ILVA plant in Taranto has, unfortunately, remained in the shadows of institutional indifference.' 'Greetings from Taranto, the only city founded by the Spartans in 706 BC.' This is how Massimo Castellana from the Taranto Parents Association (Genitori Tarantini) signs off on WhatsApp when I ask about the pollution that has blighted his city for decades. It was described as a 'sacrifice zone' by a UN Special Rapporteur in 2022 due to pollution from llva, which has loomed over the Tamburi district for the last 60 years. But there is clearly a lot of pride in this city on the Ionian Sea, and residents are not giving up without a fight. The Italian government knew Taranto was an area 'at high risk of an environmental crisis' as early as 1990. In 2001, photos and scientific evidence acquired by Marescotti revealed an alarming scene, 'with thick toxic fumes that resembled something out of Dante's Inferno.' 'According to analyses, the fumes contained carcinogenic substances in concentrations equivalent to more than 7,000 cigarettes over an eight-hour work shift,' he says. Despite public outrage, Europe's biggest steel plant was grindingly slow to follow EU rules; in particular, the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) adopted in 1996, which required all installations to have a permit by 2007. Italy finally issued an authorisation in 2011, following legal action from the EU. But by 2012, mounting evidence of an 'environmental disaster' led to a local trial at which the judge ordered Ilva's most polluting parts to be seized and shut down. Since then, however, successive governments have issued 18 so-called 'Save-Ilva' decrees to enable it to continue operating, having specially introduced the concept of a plant of 'strategic national importance'. 'There is no economic, occupational, or strategic reason that can justify such fierce insistence from the politicians (and the unions, guilty of complicity) against the health of the Taranto people,' says Castellana. 'If the plant has not yet been closed, despite its danger being clarified at multiple levels, it is due to the subservience of a depressing political class to steel producers and industrialists, particularly in northern Italy.' In 2013, following complaints from citizens and NGOs including PeaceLink, the Commission began an infringement procedure against Italy for violations of environmental standards. This infringement procedure has now been open for 12 years without any substantial further action. A 'reasoned opinion' - the next step when a member state fails to comply - followed in 2014, and then, bureaucratic silence. MEPs who repeatedly questioned the lack of progress in the European Parliament (EP) were met with 'vague and unsatisfactory answers', according to the complaint. For Valentina Palmisano, an MEP from Puglia, elected with the Five Star Movement in Italy, which is part of the Left Group in the European Parliament, this situation is unacceptable. 'European law cannot be applied selectively and Taranto cannot be treated as a rights-free zone,' she tells Euronews Green. Palmisano believes the Commission's prolonged inaction is politically motivated. 'On the one hand, it shields itself from responsibility by pointing to the fact that an infringement procedure has been open since 2013, as if this absolves it from the ongoing health and environmental consequences of ILVA's operations. 'On the other hand, it avoids referring Italy to the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) because steel production remains politically sensitive and strategically important in the context of EU industrial policy.' There is concerted pressure within the EU to boost domestic steel production - in response to Trump's tariffs, Chinese steel dumping, and the shadow of war across Europe. On 7 May this year - the same day one of Ilva's two blast furnaces exploded - the Commission 'decided to send an additional letter of formal notice to Italy.' For campaigners, it was again far too little, far too late. In fact, the complaint from Palmisano and PeaceLink describes it as a backwards step in the infringement process. They say the Commission has failed to ensure legal enforcement and must now finally take Italy to the CJEU. 'Taranto has been sacrificed on the altar of economic interests, at the expense of health, dignity, and the fundamental rights of its inhabitants,' says Marescotti. Alongside this administrative approach, Taranto residents, spurred on by the premature deaths of family and friends, have pursued collective action to stem Ilva's pollution. A report by Sentieri, an epidemiological monitoring group, found that between 2005 and 2012, 3,000 deaths were directly linked to exposure to pollutants from the plant - including benzene, heavy metals, and dioxins. Cancer and excess overall mortality are well above regional averages, with childhood leukaemia nearly 50 per cent above expected levels. A case brought by members of the Taranto Parents Association, including Castellana, was referred by the Milan district court to the CJEU for clarification. In a landmark ruling on 24 June last year - applicable to tens of thousands of sites in the EU - the top court said that operations must be suspended where there are serious threats to the environment and human health. This ruling was brought back to the Tribunale di Milano for a hearing on 22 May, but no final decision has been reached yet. Castellana remains hopeful, but the Ombudsman complaint describes the case as being stuck in the bureaucratic hinterland that seems to surround Ilva. In short, the complainants write, 'The case remains pending, the ILVA steel plant continues to operate and pollute, and the ILVA infringement procedure is still ongoing.' The steel plant, which coats Taranto in fine red iron ore dust, appears to have left its mark on all living things. The food chain has been corrupted, Castellana claims. A decade ago, the impact on livestock was a major concern, with thousands of sheep and goats culled after cheese made from their milk was found to contain dioxins above legal limits. Now, a source with knowledge of the issue says, mussels are the most enduring bearers of dioxins in the environment. They grow in Mar Picolo ('Small Sea'), an enclosed coastal lagoon where the filter feeders accumulate dioxins in their bodies that are stuck in the sediment. Air pollution has fluctuated and improved over the years, notably around 2013, the source says, but Taranto is still awaiting remediation of its air, soil, and water. In its call for buyers of Ilva, which remains under special administration, the Italian government stipulates that the new owner must decarbonise the plant in line with the EU's goals. Palmisano, however, thinks it should be nationalised; in order 'to align industrial production with real ecological transition, based on green hydrogen, not gas, and finally undertake the necessary remediation of the ILVA site.' 'No transition is credible without first addressing the environmental and health devastation already caused,' she says. Other campaigners want to see Ilva closed altogether, and its workers supported to transition into other sectors, bringing a dirty chapter to an end. Their determination endures. Marescotti has previously said he owes his strength to always go on to his father, who was a partisan in the anti-fascist resistance against Mussolini. Castellana says he would never move away from Taranto, 'because Taranto is my mother. And a mother should not be abandoned.' 'We demand justice,' he says. 'We owe it to the little Tarantinos who are no longer here, to those who are suffering today, and to future generations that we want to be able to live in health and enjoy the sublime beauty of Taranto.' The European Commission and the Italian government have been contacted for comment.
