By Julia Welter
If you were outside today and noticed that the sun looked especially red or orange, the sky had a hazy or smoky appearance, or you maybe had some difficulty breathing, Canada’s wildfires are to blame.
This week, the wildfires in the eastern provinces of Quebec and Nova Scotia have been bringing thick smoke and a hazy orange glow to the skies above New York State, as well as some of the poorest air quality in the world. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, 420 active fires are burning across Canada, and just today, there were 23 new fires.
Today, air quality rose to unhealthy levels in the Northeast as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted eastward. Conditions are expected to worsen in New York City this week. When Air Quality Index (AQI) values are above 100, air quality is unhealthy, at first for certain sensitive groups of people, and then for everyone as AQI values get higher. Today in Irvington, New York, the air quality index reached over 151, which is considered unhealthy for all.
The New York State’s Department of Health issued an air quality health advisory through midnight Wednesday night, and then another alert until midnight Thursday night, as a result of the smoke and extremely hazy conditions for the following counties: New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, and Putnam. The alert recommends that individuals should consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity to reduce the risk of adverse health effects. People who may be especially sensitive to the effects of elevated levels of pollutants include young children, older adults, pregnant women, and those with preexisting respiratory problems such as asthma or heart disease.
Bad air quality is a serious issue because in the short term, it can cause irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs, as well as an increased risk of respiratory infection. Longer term exposure to air pollution is linked with several chronic health conditions, including severe asthma, preterm birth, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and dementia.
