2023-06-08 06:37:00
WASHINGTON — A red sun dips at sunset behind a hazy, grayish-orange haze. At dawn, Washington smells of burning, and the air looks just as dirty. Cell phones are beginning to be populated with alerts – “Code Red” –, schools and gyms have closed or canceled activities, and the National Meteorological Service warns that environmental quality is “Very bad”and the conditions can be “unhealthy for people with lung or heart disease, the elderly, children and adolescents.” On the street you see people wearing masks, as if the pandemic had returned. As the hours go by, it will get worse.
The East Coast of the United States was literally covered in smoke. The air became, for many, unbreathable: more than a hundred million people were affected by a federal government alert because the air was unhealthy, and New York registered the worst air quality index since it began to be measured. The atypical day with an aura of dystopia was the result of more than 400 forest fires in Canadaspread between Quebec, Toronto and Ontario.
Although the Canadian border is about a seven-hour drive north of Washington, the impact of the wildfires was seen, smelled and felt on the streets of the capital, and in several of the country’s largest cities. Smoke billowed from Canada and engulfed the east coast, stretching as far as the southern states of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The crisis will continue in the coming days.
People took refuge in their houses, with the windows closed. The worst was seen in New York. After noon, the skyscrapers that define the iconic skyline of the Big Apple began to disappear. The city was darkened under an orange cloud that fell from the sky. The cars had to drive with their lights on.
The federal government had to stop takeoffs at La Guardia airport due to “low visibility,” and also delayed flights to Newark, New Jersey. Delays and cancellations piled up. The city’s zoos closed. The smoke reached as far as Detroit –the city recorded one of the worst quality measurements in the country–, Chicago and Pittsburgh, and stretched. A cold front in the next few days threatens to push the smoke further south.
“This is something that has never impacted before on this scale”New York Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference on Wednesday morning. “We had dangerously high levels of smoke from wildfires thousands of miles away. From the twilight over Yankee Stadium, to the smoky haze obscuring the horizon, we could see it, smell it and feel it,” he continued. “This is not the day to train for a marathon or to be outside with your kids.” he remarked, urging people to stay home.
The worst was yet to come. As the hours passed, New York began to fade and darken, and the air quality degraded to the worst possible level, which left the city at the top of the IQAir ranking, the world’s largest platform that measures air quality and pollution in cities in real time. In the afternoon, New York marked an index of 342 – the “dangerous” level begins at 301 – well above Dubai, second, with 168, and Delhi, third, with 164. It was the worst mark since it began to be measured. air quality in the city.
The city’s Health Commissioner, Ashwin Vasan, warned that fine particles of smoke in the air can enter people’s lungs and cause “inflammation and worsen conditions such as asthma, chronic lung disease, or underlying heart conditions.” Ethan Coffel, a climatologist at Syracuse University, said it was an “unprecedented” event for the East Coast of the country.
The crisis was unleashed by the more than 400 forest fires in Canada, spread between Quebec, Toronto and Ontario. Smoke billowed from Canada and engulfed the East Coast, stretching as far as the southern states of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The Meteorological Service warned that the crisis will continue in the coming days.
In Bethesda, Maryland, a high school moved its graduation ceremony indoors, Archyde.com reported, while a Brooklyn, New York, elementary school postponed its “Spring Fling” dance party, and another Montclair, New Jersey, school. , failed a fifth-grade field trip to Six Flags amusement park.
The YMCA chain of gyms sent an email to its clients advising that all outdoor activities were canceled, as they must “take immediate steps to ensure the health and safety of our members, staff and children in our care; particularly those with respiratory sensitivities and vulnerable populations such as the elderly and children.” All outdoor activities were suspended until the end of the “Code Red Alert.”
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