All the images that have been captured of New York City in the past week look eerily like a still from a science fiction movie set in a post-apocalyptic world.
Despite California being crowned a hotspot for wildfires, the rest of the U.S., specifically the Eastern area, has rarely seen what it is like to be swathed in veils of wildfire smog. This year presented the Eastern region with the unwanted opportunity to be shrouded in smoke owing to the wildfires that have been spreading through several regions of their neighboring country Canada.
Naturally, this threw NYC’s air quality to the wolves, resulting in its deteriorating to the point of it briefly topping the list of the most polluted air in the world on Wednesday, with a record-breaking score of 484, just above Lahore’s score of 179 according to IQAir! New York City slowed down its usual bustle this week due to the hazy smoke choking its people all around. People were advised to limit outdoor activities, air travel was restricted, and sports events were rescheduled.
New York, one of the world’s busiest cities, used to have a stellar record in terms of air quality, but the past week’s projections show a historic decline, and it is not even due to any actions on the city’s part.
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Canada’s Wildfires
To trace the origins of this unwanted record that New York City held briefly, one must go north up to U.S.A’s neighbor, Canada.
Summer is here, and it brought the worst of its consequences with it when it arrived. Wildfires are common occurrences during summer, and this year, Canada saw a historical span of areas get affected by the wildfires that broke out, even in places that typically remain unharmed by wildfires.
The month of March marks the first of the wildfires this year, and only peaked in its intensity in June. With close to six hundred reported fires, Alberta was the most affected area this time. Thousands of people were ordered to be evacuated, and some still remain under that order at present.
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So what really caused the relative increase in the span of the area the wildfires affected? All signs point to the weather. The weather in a large number of provinces in Canada this year ensured almost perfect conditions for spreading wildfires. Dry is really the only word that can be used to describe it.
Very less humidity, extreme heat, and drought dried out huge patches of forests, and this, of course, aided the fires to spread with swiftness and in huge proportions. The usually wildfire-free areas in Canada were abnormally dry this year, unfortunately causing them to fall prey to the fires.
As to what initiated the fires, the cause still remains unknown, but under normal circumstances, the origins usually are a random cigarette butt, small fires, electric sparks, or lightning that struck more than usual due to the ongoing climate change crisis.
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NYC Tops List For World’s Worst Air Pollution
New York, dubbed the “capital of the world,” is one of the most famous cities ever and is home to several tourist attractions, universities, firms, and other headquarters. The past week has seen New York City enveloped in a thick veil of orange smog, thanks to the incoming smoke from Quebec’s wildfires.
A large low-pressure system above Nova Scotia is to blame for all the chaos in New York. Due to its swirling counter-clockwise, winds have been flowing south from Quebec to the east in the direction of New York, carrying a share of the Quebec wildfire smoke with it.
June 5th, Monday, saw the initial drifting of smoke into the Northeastern section of the USA, including New York and Connecticut.
By June 6th, the air quality deteriorated at an alarming rate, lowering to the worst level that New York had seen in decades. New York’s Office of Emergency Management notified its people of the hazardous low air quality in NYC at the time through their social media and city alert system. Mayor Eric Adams also briefed the people about the crisis through a news release on Tuesday.
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On Wednesday, NYC was officially the city with the worst air pollution, with an AQI of 484! Although several firms and institutions were still open and operating, outdoor activity was advised against, along with restricted flight travel. The health advisory alerts specified how the air quality crisis puts the critically ill, elderly, children, and people with respiratory illnesses at a huge risk.
Thursday also initially saw no relief in air pollution, and air quality was still at a hazardously low level throughout the morning. However, late afternoon air quality levels were recorded to be less hazardous but were still at an unhealthy level.
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What Now?
The thick haze continued to cloak New York until late Friday, when the air quality reached a level of 50, deeming it safe enough to lift the air quality alert. A lot of the smoke has dispersed, and it seems like everything is slowly on its way to returning to the way it was.
There is hope for rain in parts of Canada, which is expected to bring down the intensity of the fires. If that is not the case, the fires will continue and put the cities of both countries at risk again.
Although forecasters do not expect conditions to worsen alarmingly again, the vulnerable section of people has been advised to limit their outings and stay masked up if it is absolutely necessary to go outdoors. Others have been advised to regularly check air quality levels and act by taking necessary precautions.
Some expect the NYC air to clear by next week, but everything remains partly unpredictable due to the constantly changing weather forecasts.
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