N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul warns about smoke exposure
Masks can help in smoky conditions
If you need to spend time outside in the smoke, a mask can help.
Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergist and immunologist at the Allergy & Asthma Network, said masks such as N95 respirators can filter out particulate matter in the air.
“Believe it or not, masking just like we did with Covid can be helpful in acting as a barrier between you and reduce the amount of particulate matter that you breathe in,” she said.
More than 400 wildfires are burning in Canada
The smoke taking over swaths of the U.S. is coming from Canada, where more than 400 wildfires are burning, 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 fires prompted evacuation orders in Chibougamau, Quebec, a remote town of about 7,500 last evening.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair called the situation “serious” and described images of the wildfire season “the most severe we have ever witnessed in Canada.”
“The current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity,” he added.
NOAA radar shows intense smoke over eastern U.S.
N.J. Forest Fire Service warns about a wildfire
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service warned last night about an uncontained wildfire.
The National Weather Service has warned that fire weather had been developing in the U.S., and that it can spark "dry thunderstorms" leading to wildfires.
Smoky haze blankets Yankees game
NYC had the worst air quality in the world last night
New York City had the worst air quality in the world last night as the Atlantic coast was blanketed in smoke and smog from the wildfires in Canada.
The city reached the top of the worst air quality chart on IQAir, a Swiss air monitoring company, around 9 p.m. yesterday, with levels that exceeded the prior worst air quality event on record for the area in July 2002.
By this morning, New York docked down to second, after Delhi, India.
City dwellers woke up to yet another hazy sky and a sun that blazed more red and orange than usual due to the smoke.
How poor air quality hurts your health
Poor air quality can be caused by any airborne “irritant” — a particle or substance in the air that is harmful to a person to breathe in, according to Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergist and immunologist at the Allergy & Asthma Network.
Many of the health issues people see from poor air quality, in general, can overlap with health issues seen from wildfire smoke, said Dr. Wynne Armand, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate director of the MGH Center for the Environment and Health.
98 million people under air quality alerts for wildfire smoke, ozone
Much of the nation will grapple with low air quality today as wildfire smoke from Canada continues to spread over the U.S.
Parts of 18 states are under air quality alerts this morning from New Hampshire to South Carolina. Large metro areas under alerts include New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Another surge of significant smoke will move south this afternoon across the Northeast with the worst of the smoke expected in and around New York City from 3 to 9 p.m.