New York has Mars Day with an apocalyptic movie set

New York has Mars Day with an apocalyptic movie set

New York and other major cities in the northeastern United States were blanketed on Wednesday by an extremely dense plume of smoke from hundreds of wildfires across Canada, mostly in Quebec.

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New York was the city with the worst air quality in the world with an IQAr index close to 400 at some air quality monitoring stations, which had never before been observed by instruments in the region. .

Phrases such as “apocalyptic”, “dystopian” and “scary” have taken over the social networks of American journalists and meteorologists, describing the orange Martian landscape of Manhattan.

The smoke had already arrived on Tuesday, but it got much worse throughout Wednesday. Health authorities have asked people to avoid going out on the streets, seal windows and wear a mask.

As the wildfires continue, depending on wind currents, more smoke could reach the North American continent. In 2020, skies turned orange in San Francisco from a fire in California, but yesterday’s images had never been seen on the North American east coast.

Several other cities on the US East Coast issued poor air quality warnings and thousands of Canadians had to leave their homes.

New York officials urged residents to avoid outdoor activities as smoke drifted south, shrouding Manhattan’s famous skyscrapers, delaying flights and prompting many to wear face masks.

More than 100 million people are subject to air pollution warnings in the northeastern United States, from Chicago to Atlanta, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

New Yorker wears face mask to protect against smoke from Canadian wildfires that plunged Manhattan into an orange haze | ANGELA WEISS/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGY

It’s an “alarming example of how the climate crisis is interfering with our lives,” the White House said Wednesday.

President Joe Biden has urged Americans in fragile health to take precautions to protect themselves from air pollution, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.

“At our headquarters in New York, we can feel the air quality deteriorating as smoke from Canada’s wildfires moves south. With rising global temperatures, the need to urgently reduce the risk of wildfires is critical. You have to make peace with nature. We cannot give up,” wrote UN Secretary-General Antônio Guterrez, looking at the smoke from his office window in New York.

Hugh Hill, a 43-year-old lawyer who walked his dog in Central Park wearing a mask, said his eyes and throat “itched” from the fog, which he compared to a chimney.

“I don’t know if it’s psychological or physical, but I know there are benefits to wearing a mask. Obviously, that won’t prevent everything, but I have to walk the dog,” he told AFP.

The thick cloud of smoke enveloped the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. Due to “reduced visibility”, the Federal Aviation Administration had to reduce traffic at metropolitan airports.

Smoke Haze From Canadian Wildfires Clouds Chrysler Building Visibility | DAVID DEE DELGADO/GETTY IMAGES/AFP/METSUL METEOROLOGIA

The United States National Weather Service (NWS), through its office in New York, has released an impressive animation of the Manhattan skyline transforming with orange smoke and the Martian landscape.

All outdoor activities in New York public schools have been suspended, and Mayor Eric Adams has urged residents to limit their time outdoors to what is “absolutely necessary.”

Pollution monitor IQAir.com found that New York once had the worst air quality of any major city in the world. According to the website, it generally ranks outside the bottom 3,000 in terms of pollution.

Aswin Vasan, the city’s health commissioner, said the city was experiencing its worst air quality since the 1960s, while New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said the crisis could last several days.

In the capital of the United States, the population also woke up on Wednesday with a strong smell and a cloudy sky, despite the sunny weather.

Washington officials warned the air quality was “harmful to people with heart or lung disease, the elderly, children and teenagers.” They also canceled all outdoor activities in schools.

Meanwhile, in the province of Quebec, Canada, now the epicenter of the wildfires that have ravaged the country, more than 11,000 residents have already been evacuated. Another 4,000 have yet to flee, Quebec Premier François Legault said.

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Biden tweeted that more than 600 American firefighters and other personnel, along with equipment, had been sent to Canada to help fight the blaze.

On the floor of the US Senate, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the haze was “a wake-up call from nature that we have a lot of work to do to reverse the ravages of climate change”.

Scientists say rising temperatures increase the risk of hot, dry weather that often fuels wildfires.

Women’s soccer, basketball and baseball leagues have suspended games scheduled for Wednesday in the northeastern United States due to smoke from wildfires in Canada.

Major League Baseball has postponed the Yankees’ New York game against the Chicago Red Sox. The confrontation has been postponed to this Thursday, with the two teams facing off in a double round.

The league also postponed the Philadelphia game between the host Phillies and Detroit Tigers due to air quality concerns.

Other sports competitions have adopted similar precautionary measures. In New Jersey, Gotham FC’s scheduled game against Orlando Pride in the Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has been postponed to August 9 due to air quality concerns in the greater New York area.

“The safety of our players, staff and fans is our top priority,” the NWSL said in a statement. “After consultation with NWSL operations and medical personnel, it has been determined that the game cannot be played safely based on the expected air quality index.”

The precautionary measures even affected events scheduled to take place indoors, such as the game that would be played between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx, of the women’s basketball league (WNBA).

Benjamin Allen

"Evil pop culture fanatic. Extreme bacon geek. Food junkie. Thinker. Hipster-friendly travel nerd. Coffee buff."

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