New York broke anti-records for air quality: the cause was an environmental disaster

Masks, canceled flights, acrid smoke… This is how New York lives now, which is suffering from the consequences of forest fires in neighboring Canada. As early as Tuesday, America’s financial center topped the list of cities with the highest air pollution index. This situation is expected to continue for several more days.

On Wednesday, tens of millions of people in the US were warned of poor air quality due to smoke from wildfires in Canada. New York’s air quality index on Tuesday night at one point topped the 200 mark, a level that IQair says is “very unhealthy.”

Enveloping America was able to prompt local authorities to issue air quality warnings on the east coast, as well as urge residents of the “Big Apple” to again wear protective masks, which the citizens of the United States abandoned relatively recently (only in April of this year, the US Congress voted to immediately end the state of emergency due to the COVID pandemic). People on social networks share “apocalyptic” photos and useful tips on how to minimize health risks.

As CNN notes, outside of the West Coast states (for example, California, where forest fires occur annually), this is a rarity for the country as a whole.

Levels of PM2.5 (fine air pollutants) in New York City peaked at 303.3 micrograms per cubic meter on Wednesday afternoon. For understanding, according to WHO standards, the average annual level of these substances in the air should not exceed 10 micrograms per cubic meter.

Given this situation, state officials in the east of the country (including New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut) advised people to limit their exposure to open and obviously stale air.

Smoke from wildfires in Canada has been moving south to the US since May. According to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 414 forest fires are currently blazing in the Maple Leaf Country, 239 of which cannot be controlled.

The smell of smoke was felt in New York on Tuesday evening, when the sky turned orange-brown, visibility decreased significantly at this time. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said: “We recommend that all residents limit outdoor activity as much as possible. People with pre-existing respiratory problems such as heart or breathing problems, as well as children and the elderly, may be especially sensitive and should remain indoors during this time.”

Adams warned that air conditions would worsen over the course of Wednesday. As a result, local schools have canceled outdoor holidays, and a remote working day order has been issued for teachers on Thursday. Almost the entire state of New Jersey was at risk due to extremely poor air quality, while fog and smoke from fires were also reported in the Great Lakes region from Cleveland, Ohio to Buffalo, New York. The smog began to spread further south as far as South Carolina, where authorities advised residents to keep their doors and windows closed.

In Philadelphia, the smell of smoke caused a wave of calls to the emergency services on Tuesday evening, where residents were asked to stay out of the street if possible, 6ABC reported. Delaware has a red air quality warning code on Thursday, while Pennsylvania and New Jersey have an orange code, according to the same channel.

Health officials are also warning residents to pay attention to their body condition. Anyone who may experience breathing problems, nausea, or dizziness should seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Exposure to smoke and those very small particles of PM2.5 can indeed cause serious health problems. Speaking to The Associated Press, Dr. David Hill, an American pulmonologist and member of the American Lung Association National Board of Directors, said: “We have defense mechanisms in the upper airways that trap larger particles and prevent them from entering the lungs. It’s kind of the right size to get past that defense. When these particles enter the respiratory tract, they trigger an inflammatory response in the body.”

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said foggy skies, reduced visibility and the smell of burning wood are likely and that the smoke will linger in the northern states for several days. “For us, there is nothing unusual about the smoke from a fire in our area. This is very typical of northwestern Canada,” said meteorologist and senior air quality specialist at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Protection Darren Austin. But, as a rule, the smoke rose up and did not affect people’s health, the expert added.

Some politicians and analysts have found a link between wildfires and the climate crisis, attributing political miscalculations to this as well. Climate advocate Lucky Tran tweeted on Wednesday: “The image of the UN building in New York, barely visible through the orange smog, is the perfect picture of how world leaders have failed to stop the climate crisis.”

Justin Trudeau pointed to the “devastating effects of climate change” in a statement Wednesday after talking with US President Joe Biden about how to put out fires in Quebec (the province alone has about 150 fires).