Explainer: Why wildfires in Canada and Spain behave so differently

Wildfires are raging simultaneously in Canada and Spain, but the two crises differ sharply in scale and behaviour. Canada's blazes tear through vast boreal forests, burning for weeks and sending smoke thousands of kilometres away, with plumes now affecting air quality in the northeastern United States ahead of Sunday's World Cup final in New Jersey. Spain's fires, though typically smaller, spread rapidly through Mediterranean scrubland due to steep terrain and strong winds, posing immediate threats to nearby communities. Both cases highlight how wildfire impacts extend far beyond the flames themselves.

Al Jazeera's Everton Fox reports.

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