Smoke from the wildfires in western Canada swept across the Midwest and Northeastern United States on Monday, obscuring blue skies and the sun and blanketing dozens of cities with fresh air, causing Warning limit time outdoors.
This is the second time in less than a month that the borderless impact of climate change can be felt with a breath. In June, Thick smoke drifted from Quebec onto the East Coast, and blew from New York City, through Washington, all the way to western Minnesota.
This week, like Nearly 900 wildfires burn across CanadaSmoke billows from fires in the western part of the country, billowing into its southern neighbor via a wide trail.
By 7 p.m. ET, nearly 70 million people in 32 states and the District of Columbia had been affected by the moving, shifting smoke, according to estimates based on information from the Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Country and LandScan, a population database.
“Unfortunately, wildfire smoke will begin to return to the area to begin the week,” according to the National Weather Service in the Philadelphia area.
Air quality warnings, ranging from moderate to very unhealthy, are issued by government agencies from Montana to the Dakotas and several other states, including Nebraska, Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina and along the Northeast.
People are advised to take precautions, from limiting outdoor activities to wearing masks. In Chicago, where air quality deteriorated over the weekend, Mayor Brandon Johnson warned children, older adults and people with heart or lung conditions to limit outdoor activities.
“We are acutely aware that the recent weather events that markedly impacted our City this summer are a direct result of the climate crisis,” he said.
The air quality advisory is also in effect for all areas of Massachusetts.
Governor Kathy Hochul of New York on Sunday issued air quality health advisory for Monday. Air quality in upstate New York areas is expected to reach unhealthy levels for all residents, while conditions in the Lower Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island are projected to be unhealthy. sensitive groups. Air quality across the region worsened as of 6:30 p.m. Monday, with parts of the city and state scoring more than 100 on the air quality index.
“New Yorkers should once again be prepared for the smoke from the wildfires in Western Canada that will affect our state’s air quality this week,” Ms. Hochul said in a statement. in a statement, adding that officials are triggering emergency announcements on roads and public transportation systems, and ensuring that masks are available for distribution in the counties above. statewide.
Rochester’s air quality index started at 141 early Monday, while Buffalo’s was at 116, but those readings were improving in both cities by late afternoon. New York City officials said conditions deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups could persist into the start of the week.
Indexing run from 0 to 500; The higher the number, the greater the level of air pollution. An AQI of 101 or higher is considered bad for sensitive groups, and 201 and above is considered very bad for anyone.
So far, the air quality warnings haven’t been as bad as they were in early June, when readings were above 400 on the East Coast, signaling danger levels.
But by 10 p.m. ET on Monday, cities across the Midwest and East were reporting some of the worst air quality in the country, according to Environmental Protection Agency. Billings, Mont., and Fort Wayne, Ind., had an AQI of 161, while the Cleveland area was at 157. Conditions continued to improve through the afternoon.
The forecast predicts “unhealthy for all” in the areas closest to the Canadian border, according to AirNowa website operated by the EPA, the agency that oversees air quality across the United States.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said its advice is in effect until Monday. In the southwestern region of the state, resident said limit their vehicle use, limit lawn mowing and avoid burning wood and yard waste.
Local officials also advise people to limit outdoor activities or use cars and wear masks. The message is repeated from Buffalo – where Mayor Byron W. Brown tell residents as a precaution — to Chicago, where the air quality warning is in effect until Sunday evening.
In Pennsylvania, where the Environmental Protection Agency issued a statewide “code orange” warning, officials asked residents and businesses to help by limiting burning leaves, trash and other materials, and Avoid using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment.
The weather service said bushfire smoke from Canada is forecast to last through Tuesday due to north-westerly winds.
Early last month, levels of airborne particulate matter from secondhand smoke became so unhealthy that many US cities set records. At some point, it was dangerous to breathe everywhere from Minnesota and Indiana to parts of the Mid-Atlantic and the South.
Visibility is amazingly reduced in cities, including New York, Toronto and Cincinnati. In some places, smoke from the fires covered the sky in an orange cloud. That smoke may have come from the wildfires burning in Quebec.
