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The smoke from ferocious Canadian wildfires cast a sickly pall over much of the eastern U.S. today, worsening air quality for millions of people. The air was acrid, skylines looked orange, and municipal officials told people to stay indoors. The National Weather Service does not expect things will get much better tomorrow.
About 128 million people were under air quality alerts because of wildfire smoke and ozone in the U.S. on Wednesday night. For smoke alone, around 100 million were under alerts across 16 states.
Poor air quality affects 18 states
- The air quality in New York City was the worst in the world Wednesday, according to IQAir.com, a tracking service.
- More than 400 wildfires are burning in Canada, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fires Centre.
- In Quebec, more than 150 forest fires were burning yesterday, with more than 110 considered out of control.
- The Federal Aviation Administration took steps to limit air traffic around New York City, temporarily grounding flights at LaGuardia Airport.
Air quality concerns expected to continue Thursday
After a day of orange haze that cast a pall over New York City, obscuring some of the nation’s best-known landmarks with smoke from Canadian wildfires, New Yorkers and others were in store for another day of bad air Thursday.
The smoke in major metro areas, including Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., was expected to continue through Thursday and cause air unhealthy for all groups, the National Weather Service said.
Air quality advisories were in place for all five boroughs of the city of more than 8 million people, and Mayor Eric Adams called the situation unprecedented.
Biden pledges additional firefighting support to Canada
President Joe Biden offered additional firefighting support to Canada to help suppress the blazes burning across the country.
Biden directed all available federal firefighting assets to assist with the effort, according to a readout of his call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday.
The U.S. has deployed more than 600 firefighters and support personnel, as well as other resources, to assist with the fires, according to the readout.
More than 400 fires are burning in Canada, 252 of which are out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
New York governor warns of ‘health and environmental crisis’
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the wildfire smoke affecting most of her state “a health and environmental crisis” Wednesday, and she urged residents to take it seriously.
The smoke blanketing major metro areas, including New York City, was expected to create dangerous air through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
Hochul said that normally the Air Quality Index is around 50 and that Brooklyn measured 413 and Queens 407 on Wednesday.
“Simply stay indoors. Outdoors is dangerous in just about every part of our state,” Hochul said at a news conference. “Not just vulnerable communities, but literally everyone.”
New York City’s Shakespeare in the Park cancels shows amid smoke
The Public Theater in New York City is canceling the first two performances of “Hamlet” in its popular Shakespeare in the Park run because of smoke from Canadian wildfires.
“Hamlet” performances that had been set for Thursday and Friday were called off Wednesday, said the nonprofit organization that puts on the summertime attraction.
"We hope to resume performances this weekend but will continue to closely monitor the ongoing situation in the days ahead," The Public Theater said in a statement.
New York City officials urged vulnerable New Yorkers to stay inside and all other residents to limit their time outdoors because of smoke.
The Broadway League said most shows remained open and were set to perform, but it urged people to check each show or theater's official website to make sure.
More than 20,000 in Canada remain displaced as country conducts 'all hands on deck' effort
More than 20,000 people in Canada remained displaced from their homes Wednesday as hundreds of wildfires burned across the country, officials said.
There were 414 wildfires burning Wednesday, “239 of which are determined to be out of control,” Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of emergency preparedness, said at a news conference.
An estimated 20,183 people remained evacuated from their communities, Blair said, adding that all parts of the government were working together.
"It’s all hands on deck, and it’s around the clock," Blair said.
Hundreds of members of the armed forces have also been deployed to assist in firefighting and other response efforts, officials said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hailed firefighters in Nova Scotia as heroes after they went into a burning community to rescue an elderly man who had been unaware of the fire threat.
"Firefighters are stepping up, first responders are stepping up in harrowing situations to save their fellow citizens," Trudeau said Wednesday.
Blair said there have been more than 2,200 wildfires across Canada this year, which have burned about 3.8 million hectares, or about 9.4 million acres.
New York and other major metro areas to have unhealthy air through Thursday
New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and the nation’s capital are expected to have unhealthy air due to wildfire smoke through Thursday, the National Weather Service said.
Millions of people will be warned to continue limiting their exposure and remain inside. Philadelphia and other parts of Pennsylvania were under a “code red” Wednesday, and New York Mayor Eric Adams told vulnerable people to stay indoors — and everyone else to limit their time outside as much as possible.
Major metro areas were “expected to experience unhealthy air quality levels for all age groups through Thursday, before winds shift more easterly, pushing smoke further west into the interior Northeast and Ohio Valley on Friday,” the National Weather Service said Wednesday.
It named Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in a forecast discussion.
The weather service in Binghamton, New York, said conditions made some areas look like Mars.
Asians in the U.S. say air quality 'feels dangerously like home'
The orange haze suffocating New York City and other U.S. cities is reminding some Asian residents of conditions in their home countries. They’ve taken to social media to describe the familiarity of the smell and the sight of the smoke, which migrated from Canadian wildfires over the past month.
“Feels dangerously like home,” a person tweeted in response to the news that New York City on Tuesday and Wednesday had among the worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir.com, a tracking service.
Some Asian cities named in the top 10 for worst air quality were Delhi, India; Lahore, Pakistan; and Jakarta, Indonesia.
New York to make 1 million N95 masks available to public
Tuesday's smoke impact was the third worst in U.S. history — and Wednesday could be worse
Tuesday’s smoke impacts rank as the third-worst in the United States since 2006, according to analysis from a Stanford University researcher who tracks wildfire smoke and its impacts.
The analysis calculated the amount of smoke exposure experienced per person in the United States on Tuesday and compared it to other major events, said Marshall Burke, an associate professor of Earth system science at Stanford University
Other regions on the West Coast have experienced much higher levels of smoke exposure, but overall impacts skewed higher in this event because eastern U.S. population centers like New York City were heavily affected, Burke said.
“This is a historic event. We’ve gone back to our smoke data and not seen anything of the same magnitude and size on the East Coast,” Burke said. And for New York City, “it’s by far the worst in the last 18 years.”
Wednesday — once data is analyzed — could be the worst day of smoke in the U.S. in nearly two decades, Burke said.
Levels of particulate matter for New York City on Wednesday doubled the worst days of any previous year, according to charts Burke produced.
Burke’s research is focused on the health impacts of wildfire smoke pollution. He uses satellites and air pollution monitors to evaluate how smoke travels in the U.S. and the severity of its exposures.