The gigantic cloud of smoke that covers the northeast region of the United States should remain over New York City until next Sunday, according to the country’s meteorological services. According to the reports a new storm system should change the direction of the winds.
New York has been the target in recent days of plumes of smoke originating from hundreds of forest fires in Canada. The wind pattern carried most of that smoke to the northeast region of the United States, reaching other cities such as Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.
New York City’s air quality index peaked above 150 on Tuesday, according to IQair – a level of pollution that is “unhealthy” for sensitive groups like the elderly, young children and people. with breathing problems.
New York City was still among the top cities with the worst air pollution in the world as of Tuesday afternoon, IQair reported, along with Dhaka (Bangladesh), Jakarta (Indonesia) and New Delhi (India).
Health authorities issued warnings for the population to only leave their homes for really important activities. New York City Hall distributed masks and issued an alert asking people to stay indoors, with windows closed – especially children, the elderly and people with respiratory diseases.
Pollutants are extremely harmful to health, especially as smoke lingers over the city for an extended period of time. “It’s not just a little smoke inhalation. It’s a continuous exposure. And our bodies are not good at capturing these very small particles. They go straight through our nose, straight into our respiratory system, and we’re going to be impacted,” explains Jack Caravanos, New York University professor, clinician, and environmental and occupational health expert.
On Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) delayed flights at New York’s LaGuardia Airport due to smoke. US airlines canceled 120 flights and delayed another 1,928, according to data from the FlightAware tracking website.
There are more than 150 wildfires active in Quebec this week, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center – more than twice the number of fires in any other Canadian province.
More than 400 wildfires have broken out in Quebec so far in 2023, double the average for this time of year. Nearly 9 million acres have been charred by wildfires in Canada so far this year, with nearly half a million acres burned in Quebec alone.
(Published by Fábio Mendes, with information from Mariana Janjácomo)
Source: CNN Brasil
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