Banff and Jasper are some of the most well known national parks in western Canada. Tourists come to enjoy hiking camping, and to see sweeping mountain vistas. At the time I visited, there were more than 400 wildfires raging in BC. What you are looking at is the resulting smoke.

Due to climate change, the rate of wildfires has skyrocketed. Scenes like this are becoming more and more common. The atmosphere you see here is a part of humanity’s legacy on the environment. The ash will be stored permanently in a thin sheet among geologic layers, like a page in a book.