Worst air quality in decades, warns NY mayor
Schools across the US East Coast cancelled outdoor activities, commercial airline traffic was slowed and millions of Americans were urged to stay indoors on Wednesday as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, blanketing cities in a thick yellowish haze.
The US National Weather Service issued air quality alerts for virtually the entire Atlantic seaboard. Health from Vermont to South Carolina and as far west as Ohio and Kansas warned residents that spending time outdoors could cause respiratory problems due to high levels of fine particulates in the atmosphere.
"It's critical that Americans experiencing dangerous air pollution, especially those with health conditions, listen to local authorities to protect themselves and their families," US President Joe Biden said on Twitter.
US private forecasting service AccuWeather said thick haze and soot extending from high elevations to the ground level marked the worst outbreak of wildfire smoke to blanket the Northeastern US in more than 20 years.
New York's world-famous skyline, usually visible for miles, appeared to vanish underneath the otherworldly veil of smoke, which some residents said made them feel unwell.
"It makes breathing difficult," Mohammed Abass said as he walked down Broadway in Manhattan. "I've been scheduled for a road test for driving, for my driving license today, and it was cancelled."
Reduced visibility from the haze forced the Federal Aviation Administration to slow air traffic into the New York City area and Philadelphia from elsewhere on the East Coast and upper Midwest, with flight delays averaging about a half hour.
Schools up and down the East Coast called off outdoor activities, including sports practices, field trips and recesses, to protect students.
In some areas, the Air Quality Index (AQI), which measures major pollutants including particulate matter produced by fires, was well above 400, according to Airnow, which sets 100 as "unhealthy" and 300 as "hazardous."
At 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was experiencing the worst air quality in the country, with an AQI reading of 410. Among major cities, New York had the worst air quality reading in the world on Wednesday afternoon at 342, about double the reading for chronically polluted cities such as Dubai (168) and Delhi (164), according to IQAir.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday urged millions of Americans to stay indoors to avoid breathing hazardous air, as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, blanketing cities in a thick yellowish haze.
Hochul also called the situation an "emergency crisis," noting that the air pollution index for parts of her state was eight times above normal.
In some areas, the Air Quality Index (AQI), which measures major pollutants including particulate matter produced by fires, was well above 400, according to Airnow, which sets 100 as "unhealthy" and 300 as "hazardous."
''Brooklyn in the last hour was at 413. This is, again, the safe level is 50. This is 415 health warnings for everyone. The entire population is likely to be affected. Queens right behind Brooklyn. So we're seeing these effects. That's 407 in the Queens area,'' Hochul said. ''So our message right now is going to be reiterated multiple times because it is simply to stay indoors,'' she added.
New York Mayor Eric Adams urged New Yorkers to stay at home on Wednesday to avoid breathing hazardous air, as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, blanketing cities in a thick yellowish haze.
"At 5 p.m. the air quality index hit 484. It is a hazardous condition that we are facing when the levels of health concern that is clearly alarming for New Yorkers. This is the highest level index of our knowledge since the sixties," added Adams.
The smoke was wafting over the US northern border from Canada, where hundreds of forest fires have scorched 9.4 million acres (3.8 million hectares) and forced 120,000 people from their homes in an unusually early and intense start to Canada's wildfire season.
Wildfire smoke has been linked with higher rates of heart attacks and strokes, increases in emergency room visits for asthma and other respiratory conditions, and eye irritation, itchy skin and rashes, among other problems.
Poor air quality is likely to persist into the weekend, with a developing storm system expected to shift the smoke westward across the Great Lakes and deeper south through the Ohio Valley and into the mid-Atlantic region, AccuWeather said.
Reuters
