Following an orange haze that was caused by a plume of Canadian wildfire smoke, residents of New York City are once more donning face masks.
Most of northeastern America is enveloped in smoke, and according to city officials, the air quality in New York City is “very unhealthy.”
According to the city, “Everyone is at an increased risk of health effects.”
The density of irritating pollutants is gauged by the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality index, which ranges from 0 to 500, and is 222 for New York City.
The smoke sent the figure well past 400 yesterday afternoon, among the worst since environmental officials began tracking air quality in 1999, beating New York City’s earlier record of 174 on Tuesday.
The air quality was also said to be the worst level in the world, according to IQAir, which monitors global air quality.
An air quality health advisory was issued for up and down New York City by state officials today.
Top of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s list of concerns is ‘fine particular matter’ in the smoke, which it says can cause coughing, needing and shortness of breath. Breathing them in can also worsen respiratory illnesses such as asthma.
DEC officials urged New Yorkers to stay indoors if they can, postpone or cancel outdoor activities and wear face masks.
‘People with heart or breathing problems, and children and the elderly may be particularly sensitive,’ the DEC added.
The advisory is in place in Long Island, New York City Metro, Lower Hudson Valley, Upper Hudson Valley, Eastern Lake Ontario, Central New York and Western New York.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said people can collect free face masks from select subway stations.
New York City has the most congested airspace in the nation, with the deep hazy orange and smoky clouds also plunging flights in the area into chaos.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said a raft of flights had been slowed as ‘smoke and haze’ engulfs airports in the state capital and Philadelphia.
The agency warned travellers to expect flights to be delayed by up to two hours at New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Newark International.
Average delays of about 30 minutes for flights into Philadelphia have been projected.
The low visibility delaying New York flights has rippled across the States, with postponed flights from Atlanta to Houston. Nearly 10,000 flights in the US have been delayed, according to flight tracker FlightAware.
Yesterday afternoon, four in 10 flights from LaGuardia were delayed – with average delays of two hours – while nearly a third of planes bound for Newark Liberty International Airport slowed.
US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg tweeted yesterday: ‘Smoke from Canada’s wildfires is affecting visibility in our airspace and leading to delays.
‘The FAA is fully prepared to modify operations as needed.’
Philadelphia was placed a ‘code red’ yesterday, meaning that the air is dangerous to breathe, especially for those with respiratory conditions.
The smoke even reached as far south as Alabama, with satellite footage from NASA showing the smog swamp the region.
Kentucky’s Louisville Air Pollution Control followed, issuing an air quality alert through to this evening, as did some counties in southern Michigan.
Hundreds of fires have been tearing through some parts of Canada, such as Ontario and Québec, some 500 miles to the north of New York City, since May.
As of yesterday, there are more than 400 fires – many out-of-control – with the US sending more than 600 firefighters to help, the White House said.
Smog warnings remain firmly in place, with the Canadian government reporting ‘poor air quality’ expected to last until tomorrow.
‘It is therefore recommended that these individuals avoid intense physical activity outdoors until the smog warning is lifted,’ it said.
The EPA similarly stresses that, as the quality index stubbornly remains in the mid-200s for some, the air conditions ‘will be widespread effects among the general population’.
But the US may have to get used to the orange haze, according to the National Weather Service.
The agency said in a forecast that the smoke could creep further into the west, saying: ‘The air quality will be decreasing over Alabama and Georgia on Thursday.’
Wildfires are increasingly becoming more common and stronger, scientists warn, as greenhouse gases continue to cook the planet.
Record-high greenhouse gas emissions and diminishing air pollution have accelerated the warming, 50 top scientists said today in a peer-reviewed study with a targeted audience: policy-makers.
‘Over the 2013-2022 period, human-induced warming has been increasing at an unprecedented rate of over 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade,’ they said.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted yesterday: ‘We are living in the era of extreme weather.’
‘While continuing our fight against climate change,’ she added, ‘we need to recognize that this is a new reality we have to be prepared for.’