An omnipresent orange veil, the Statue of Liberty wrapped in a fog that does not dissipate… New York is once again at the head of the most polluted large cities in the world, with a score of 235 (against 200 on Wednesday), This is what corresponds to an air quality described as “very bad for health” by the Swiss site IQAir. According to the US meteorological services, the irrespirable vapors could last “one or two weeks”, depending on the wind.
Smoke from the Canadian fires
The “Big Apple” thus surpasses New Delhi, frequently at the top of this ranking, or even Lahore, Dubai and Dhaka, while more than 150 forest fires ravage Canada and the smoke migrates to the United States and hides the buildings of New York. They are in a haze this week.
Since Tuesday, city and state authorities have increased alert messages to educate New Yorkers about the sudden and unprecedented impact of these fires in Canada, whose intensity and frequency are linked to climate change.
This induces a predominance of PM2.5 in the air, fine particles of 2.5 microns, extremely dangerous for health. The level of fine particles was at least up to 16 times higher than the thresholds established by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Return of surgical masks
Les fumées des incendies raging in Canada on a long road, 800 kilometers south, and poured onto New York in an irrespirable atmosphere, marking the great return of surgical masks, used during the Covid-19 pandemic, on the streets of the city.
Residents told AFP their eyes and throat itch. Another, who says that he quit smoking 50 years ago, coughs like when he was a smoker. Outdoor activities have been suppressed in schools.
“It is critical that Americans facing dangerous air pollution, especially those with health concerns, listen to local authorities to protect themselves and their families,” President Joe Biden said on Twitter.
The eastern United States also affected
The US National Weather Service has issued air quality advisories for most of the Atlantic coast. Health authorities from Vermont to South Carolina and as far as Ohio and Kansas have warned residents that going outdoors can cause respiratory problems due to high levels of fine particles in the atmosphere.
Washington, the federal capital, also lives in a pungent odor and under a hazy sky, with an air quality “harmful” for the most fragile people. As in New York and the state of Maryland, public schools have canceled outdoor activities for children.
For 100 million inhabitants, from Chicago to the north-est to Atlanta to the south, “the quality of the air in this zone is mainly affected by the Canadian airways”, according to the EPA, the protection agency for the environment. For New York alone, it will all depend on the “direction of the winds,” but the fumes could last “a week or two,” according to the national weather forecast.
Source: BFM TV
