2023-06-07 23:45:00
As smoke from wildfires in Canada spreads across the eastern United States, warning lights have been put on the health of more than 100 million residents, one-third of the US population. Masks that had disappeared for a while reappeared on the way to work and school in New York covered in smoke.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on its website on the 7th (local time) that “smoke from Canadian forest fires is affecting air quality in areas ranging from the mid-Atlantic coast to the Northeast and parts of the upper Great Lakes.” Please check the location of the area, real-time air quality information, and actions to take to protect your health on the fire and smoke map.”
According to AFP, the EPA has issued air quality alerts to more than 100 million people in the United States.
EPA issues an alert when an air quality index (AQI) of 151 or higher is considered unhealthy for everyone.
New York City’s AQI was 364, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, 464, Stratford, Connecticut, 325, and Mendham, New Jersey, 315, according to EPA’s air quality information site AirNow.
In the air quality rating, which is classified into six levels according to the AQI index, if it exceeds 300, it corresponds to the worst ‘hazardous’ level.
Healthy adults recover quickly even if exposed to this level of air, but experts say that patients with asthma or cardiovascular disease, pregnant women, and the elderly should be especially careful.
According to smoke data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the smoke from the Canadian wildfires is gradually spreading to the southeast and covering the eastern United States as the wildfires expand. Already in the middle of last month, almost the entire northern United States, from western Oregon to eastern New York, was covered in smoke.
On the way to work and school in New York this morning, masks that had disappeared for a while after the power of Corona 19 weakened appeared again.
The New York Times (NYT) said, “The acrid smell of a bonfire filled the air.”
According to reports, vehicles turned on their headlights even in broad daylight to secure visibility. The street lamps were automatically turned on in the foggy atmosphere.
The night before, the air quality index (AQI) in Manhattan, New York City soared to 218, and CNN reported that the only place in India where the air quality was worse than New York at that time was New Delhi, India.
Wildfires in Alberta, Canada, began to spread due to dry weather and strong winds from the beginning of this month and have recently been enveloped in flames and smoke throughout eastern Quebec.
Canada’s Minister of Emergency Planning, Bill Blair, said 414 forest fires were still burning. In about 200 places, close to half of them, the flames are strong and the extinguishing work is not proceeding properly. Quebec Prime Minister François Lago said, “Right now, we can only suppress about 40 places at the same time with our manpower,” and “we need to focus on more urgent areas.”
“The president was briefed on the wildfires in Canada last week, and has been listening regularly since then,” said White House spokeswoman Carine Jean-Pierre at a briefing. The team in charge is communicating with the Canadian government and sending about 600 firefighters, personnel and equipment to help put out the fire.” “Many parts of the West experience this every year, but it’s definitely getting worse,” he said. “It’s another extraordinary example of the way the climate crisis is shaking our lives and our communities.”
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