Curated By: Shankhyaneel Sarkar
Last Updated: June 07, 2023, 13:49 IST
New York, United States of America (USA)
The Statue of Liberty is covered in haze and smoke caused by wildfires in Canada, in New York, US. (Image: Reuters)
Many states in the US have issued health warnings due to the deteriorating air quality caused due to Canada wildfires.
New Yorkers on Tuesday morning spotted an orange haze blanketing the city’s skyline caused due to the wildfire smoke from Canada travelling southwards towards New York City.
The officials urged people not to exercise outside and reduce their exposure to the smoke citing immediate and long-term health risks from the air.
Canada has been witnessing a bad wildfire season this year. The Canadian officials have warned that this summer may bring Canada’s largest fires, the BBC reported. The forecast for the rest of the summer remains dry and hot across most parts of the country which means that the wildfire season could get severe.
More than 3.3m hectares of land has burnt due to wildfires and the BBC in its report highlighted that the area burnt is 12 times the 10-year average for this time of year.
Canadian authorities were also forced to evacuate people with asthma and other respiratory issues from the Atikamekw community of Opitciwan in Quebec and other communities due to the deteriorating air quality.
In Quebec, fires have burned around 200,000 hectares to date and thousands of people were evacuated across the country.
Authorities in the US and Canada have issued high-risk air quality warnings for millions of people due to the wildfires.
The smoke from wildfires has blanketed major cities in Ontario and Quebec, including Toronto and its surrounding areas, the BBC said.
The smoke reached New York City, Connecticut, Ohio Valley, the Carolinas, southeastern Minnesota and parts of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, as well as in more than 60 counties in Wisconsin, the BBC and NBCNews said in separate reports. Parts of eastern Pennsylvania, Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, New England and other adjoining areas have seen their Air Quality Index top 200 meaning conditions are unhealthy for ‘everyone’.
At least 160 fires are raging in Quebec and officials in Ottawa as well as Toronto said the air quality in the Canadian capital is a “very high risk” to people’s health.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified the air quality in much of the north-eastern US as “unhealthy”.
British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories also reported major fires burning.
