Photos of eerie sun show 'beauty and destruction' in smoky haze

The haze from the wildfire smoke from northwestern Ontario that has settled over the London region has given the sun a reddish look, much to the delight and shock of local photographers.

"It's kind of an eerie situation because it is beautiful," said David Piano, a photographer and self-proclaimed storm chaser from Ingersoll, Ont. "It creates a pretty stark scene out there, especially at sunrise and sunset seeing the sun disc so vividly."

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"It's quite a bad situation up in the northwest. They're doing all they can to suppress the fire activity," said Piano.

More than 200,000 hectares are burning in the northwest corner of the province, prompting evacuations in a number of First Nations communities.

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Environment Canada has issued a poor air quality warning for southwestern Ontario as the smoke settles in this part of the province.

"What we're seeing down here as a result is very hazy conditions," Piano said. Those conditions have led to a brilliant, bright-red sun. 

"It's really the properties of the smoke high up in the atmosphere. It's filtering out different wavelengths of light, but the red passes through and that's what we see with our eyes here on the surface."

"But what's causing that is kind of what makes it a little bit uncomfortable," said Piano. "It's kind of a balance of beauty and destruction, really." 

Environment Canada expects a cold front to push through this evening and will likely push the smoke out of the region, although Piano isn't sure for how long.

"I'm sure the smoke will move back in eventually as the weather pattern shifts again. For now, it'll be clear starting tomorrow."