As smoke from numerous wildfires blazing in eastern Canada moved south and threw a dull gray pallor over the skyline of New York and other major cities, more than a dozen US states were under air-quality alerts on Wednesday.
Health officials issued warnings about the potential for harmful amounts of small particulate matter in the atmosphere to affect millions of people’s ability to breathe in 15 states, ranging from Vermont through South Carolina, Ohio, and Kansas in the Midwest.
Health Warnings as Wildfire Smoke Engulfs US States
The National Weather Service issued an air quality advisory for Washington, DC as well.
Individuals were urged to restrict their time spent outside, and those who had breathing problems were suggested to think about donning a mask.
The smoke is coming from Canada, where the wildfire season began unusually early and intensely because of the country’s persistently warm and dry weather.
The wildfire season in Canada is expected to be the worst ever.
The air smelt like burning wood, and the sky over several North American cities, including New York, was uniformly gloomy.
The early morning light was often seen as a tiny blazing orange disc.
Skyscrapers in New York City, which on a clear day can be seen for miles, were all but invisible.
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Air-Quality Warnings Issued in Toronto and Ottawa
While outdoor events and activities, including a middle school graduation, were postponed, canceled, or relocated indoors on Wednesday, the city’s schools were open for business.
Due to multiple blazing wildfires that have burnt through a record amount of land this year, Canadian authorities on Wednesday issued a harsher air-quality warning for the citizens of Toronto, the nation’s financial center.
While wildfires are frequent in Canada’s western regions, the province of Nova Scotia is currently going through its worst season on record.
The military has been dispatched to the area by the federal authorities.
Nearly all of Canada’s ten provinces and territories are experiencing fires, with Quebec being the hardest hit. Lightning strikes have started a number of fires.
The capital city of Canada, Ottawa, which is located on the border of Ontario and Quebec, continued to have air quality that was classified as category 10+, which the Air Quality Health Index of Canada described as extremely high risk.
More than 120,000 people have been evicted from their houses, at least temporarily, and almost 3.3 million hectares of land have already been burnt, which is roughly 13 times the 10-year norm.