Air quality: Noxious smoke eases over US but wildfires still major threat in Canada

The smoke has shifted south and west in the US impacting cities like Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Cleveland after enveloping New York for days

Smoky haze from wildfires in Canada engulfed New York City on Wednesday

Smoke from hundreds of wildfires in Canada reached Europe on Friday after blanketing provinces and large parts of the United States in thick smoke this week.

And while the noxious smoke was finally easing over the northeast on Friday, the fires still posed a major threat.

More than 420 fires are raging across Canada from British Columbia in the west to Nova Scotia in the east. At least half of these fires are burning out of control, and tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes.

While air quality improved in large cities like New York, Washington DC and Philadelphia on Friday, pollution increased across central and southern states including the cities of Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Global temperature rise, caused by emissions from burning fossil fuels, is leading to more large, erratic wildfires around the world. And it’s a vicious circle: the emissions pumped into the atmosphere by fires add to global heating, further drying out the land and vegetation, making it more susceptible to catching fire.

Key Points

• New York air pollution downgraded to ‘unhealthy’ as smoke moves southwards
• Smoke moves south covering Midwest and Ohio Valley
• Check smoke forecast for Friday
• What is code red, purple and orange air quality?
• Why wildfires are raging in Canada?
• Watch: Apocalyptic time-lapse shows New York disappear into orange smoke from Canada wildfires

[10 June 2023 13:05 · Louise Boyle]

Pictured: This week’s air quality crisis in the US

The Washington Memorial stands in hazy smoke on June 8, 2023 in DC after the capital was put under a “code purple” alert for air pollution (Getty Images)

People tour the top of the Old Post Office Tower as haze from a blanket of smoke covers the view on Thursday in Washington DC (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Golfers watch their shots at the driving range at Valley Country Club in Sugarloaf, Pennsylvania as smoke from wildfires in Canada fill the air on Wednesday (John Haeger/Standard-Speaker via AP)

[10 June 2023 14:04 · Louise Boyle]

‘It’s like being on Mars’: The smoke in the air in New York is so thick you can feel it in your lungs

By 2pm, it looked like the sun was already setting in New York City, David Taintor, deputy US editor, wrote in a first-person account of the air quality crisis on Wednesday.

“Smoke from hundreds of forest fires raging in Canada blew into town this week, choking out the sun and casting an eerie sepia tone across skyscrapers and city blocks.

“By mid-afternoon on Tuesday, the air quality index in parts of the city climbed beyond 400 – a level considered “hazardous”. The scale only goes up to 500, and typically the air quality index hovers around 100. As some have said, it’s like being on Mars: the sky turned orange and the sharp edges of the city blurred behind the smog.”

Read more at the link below.