Millions of people across the United States and Canada are at risk of breathing in potentially harmful air from Thursday’s wildfires in Quebec. A growing number of officials are urging people to limit the time they spend outdoors and then wear masks for added protection.
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Huge plumes of thick smoke from more than 430 active wildfires in Canada have descended across parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States, blanketing neighborhoods, parks and schoolyards in an orange haze full of potential pollutants.
And forecasts suggest it could take several days for the air to clear.
With about 75 million people on alert for poor air quality in the United States, public schools in the Yonkers neighborhood are closed, while other school districts in the states of Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC have canceled outdoor activities. The New Jersey governor has encouraged local school boards to do the same.
“It’s bad or really bad depending on where you are,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday, urging “little children, the elderly and anyone with lung problems to stay indoors.” .” If you must go out, remember to wear a good, well-fitting N95 mask.
Winds are expected to continue driving heavy smoke further south into the mid-Atlantic. That means the same menacing smoke that shrouded New York City, where air quality was among the worst in the world this week, could be choking Delaware, Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, DC Thursday morning.
Late Wednesday night, New York’s air quality index climbed above 320, meaning it was “hazardous,” or level 6 out of 6, the worst rating from AirNow.gov, an air quality data site operated in partnership with multiple government agencies.
Air quality in the city is beginning to improve slightly early Thursday morning, albeit still at a “very unhealthy” level of 5 out of 6.
Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania were the hardest-hit metro areas early Thursday morning, with air quality rated as “hazardous.”
Other major cities in the United States that face “unhealthy” or “unhealthy for sensitive groups” values include Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Washington, DC
People suffering from poor air quality, including the elderly and young children, are being urged to limit the time they spend outdoors.
The air quality deteriorates
Smoke from wildfires has resulted in the worst air quality in decades, according to Mark Zondlo, an atmospheric chemist specializing in air quality monitoring and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University.
“What makes it really unique – apart from the fact that the fires are huge in themselves – is that the air stays very close to the ground. So instead of being lifted and dispersing in the atmosphere or being in the layer 10,000 feet above us, it’s basically hugging the ground and therefore not dispersing, Zondlo told CNN.
“The weather pattern is such that it channels this plume of smoke and keeps it close to the ground […] [vers] We.”
US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed the impact of wildfires on air quality on Wednesday, according to a statement from Trudeau’s office.
“Both leaders recognized the need to work together to combat the devastating effects of climate change,” the statement said.
Biden directed federal firefighting resources to help put out the fires, the White House said, adding that more than 600 firefighters and support personnel are already deployed.
While these conditions persist, experts and officials have urged people to stay indoors as much as possible and wear N95 or KN95 face masks outdoors to ensure they are adequately protected.
NY cancels all city outdoor events
Experts say more frequent and severe wildfires are leading to poor air quality as the planet warms from the effects of human-caused climate change.
“We typically see these effects in wildfires in the western United States and in the western mountains,” said Dr. Peter DeCarlo, Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
“The east coast is generally a bit more isolated from this stuff. Our forests tend to be wetter and don’t burn as badly, but while we wait for climate change, while it’s a unique experience right now, it could become a lot less unique and a little more common across the country. ‘coming.’
As New York’s air continues to be compromised, the state is making one million N95 masks available to those in need, the governor announced Wednesday night.
About 400,000 of these masks would be distributed in New York state parks and transit stations, among other places, Gov. Kathy Hochul said. Another 600,000 masks will be available in Homeland Security’s inventory for local governments to collect, she added.
“Just stay inside. “Nature is dangerous in almost every part of our state,” the governor said, calling the poor air quality “unprecedented.”
As a result, outdoor events hosted by New York City have been canceled and the city’s beaches remain closed, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday.
While conditions could improve overnight, afternoon and evening air quality is expected to deteriorate again, Adams said.
“I want to clarify that conditions could potentially improve significantly by Friday morning, however the predictability of the smoke is low and it is difficult to predict the movement of the smoke […] “This is an unpredictable series of events,” he added.
Advanced air quality alerts
Elsewhere, officials in Pennsylvania and Delaware have issued a “red code” to warn residents of potentially harmful air quality.
A red code was issued in Philadelphia on Wednesday, according to James Garrow, janitor, warning that the elderly, young children and people who are pregnant or have heart or lung conditions could have serious health effects from smoke, according to James Garrow, Gatekeeper. Word of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.
“For those who do not belong to a vulnerable group, we ask those individuals to avoid strenuous outdoor activities such as jogging or exercising,” Garrow told CNN.
Delaware has an air quality warning and Code Red action day in place through Thursday. State officials have advised residents to limit the time they spend outdoors and stay in an air-filtered room.
In addition, Rhode Island’s air quality warning was extended through Thursday because of heavy smoke and harmful particles listed on the air quality index.