Due to smoke originating from Canadian wildfires, an air quality health advisory has been issued for New York City and the surrounding metropolitan area.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Department of Health (DOH) announced the advisory Saturday via a post on X, impacting Long Island, the New York City Metro area, the Lower Hudson Valley, the Upper Hudson Valley, and the Adirondacks.
Authorities are cautioning that air quality in the aforementioned regions is currently “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
The ongoing wildfires in Canada have displaced tens of thousands, with smoke plumes drifting southward and triggering air quality concerns across the northern United States.
Forecasts indicate that the Air Quality Index (AQI) will exceed 100 across much of New York state on Saturday, potentially reaching 135. Similar alerts are also in effect for portions of New England.
The AQI serves as a measure of air pollution severity, categorizing associated health risks. Higher AQI values correlate with increasingly unsafe breathing conditions.
This is not the first instance of air quality alerts being issued in the US as a result of smoke emanating from the Canadian wildfires.
In mid-July, Chicago experienced a comparable alert, with recommendations for heightened precautions for infants and the elderly.
The political ramifications of the wildfire smoke have extended to Washington.
Earlier in July, a group of six members of Congress addressed a letter to the Canadian ambassador, expressing concerns that wildfire smoke was negatively impacting Americans’ enjoyment of the summer season.
Currently, Canadian authorities report over 550 active fires, with the highest concentration located in the province of Manitoba. To date, wildfires have consumed 6.1 million hectares (15 million acres) of land across the country this year.
May and June witnessed particularly destructive wildfire activity in western Canada, leading to the evacuation of approximately 30,000 individuals in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where local governments declared states of emergency.
Scientists have consistently drawn connections between the escalating severity of wildfire seasons and the effects of climate change.
Canada is believed to be warming at twice the global average rate, with its Arctic regions experiencing warming at nearly three times the global rate, according to scientific findings.
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