What is the cause of the smoke that has alerted millions of people in Canada and the United States

Much of the smoke reaching the United States comes from Canada, which has been devastated by wildfires, especially in the province of Québec.

As of Thursday, smoke from a series of fires in Canada is still spreading across the northeastern United States and air quality in cities like Washington and New York remains unhealthy, a situation that will persist for several days.

These are about 400 wildfires still active in Canada, almost half of which are out of control. There are 150 wildfires in the province of Québec alone. The fires burned more than 8 million acres, about the size of 8 million football fields.

Canadian authorities classify this year as one of the worst fire seasons in the country’s history. Experts blame a warmer and drier-than-normal spring as the cause of the high number of wildfires.

Millions of citizens (about 75 million live in the area) remain alert to the risk of inhaling potentially harmful air from the hundreds of wildfires raging across Canada, whose cloud of smoke has been visibly detected by US NASA satellites.

Through a statement, NASA explained that while smoke from Canadian wildfires often makes its way into the United States several times during the summer, it usually goes undetected because it sits relatively high in the atmosphere and because winds tend to push the smoke to the east and west. move to the sea. .

This has not been the case today, and due to a weather phenomenon known as a “coastal layer,” smoke drifted into the southern and eastern U.S., worsening the surface-level air quality that millions of people breathe.

“Surface smoke pollution from New York to the DC region is the most significant since July 2002, when a similar event occurred,” said NASA scientist Ryan Stauffer.

After the unusual images published Wednesday of iconic buildings such as the Empire State Building surrounded by a cloud of orange smoke, the US Capitol in Washington woke up in a haze on Thursday.

In a press conference, the capital’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, confirmed that the city has risen to the purple alert level, the highest, today.

For that reason, he advised the population not to stay outside and, if necessary, to wear a face mask.

According to Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) director Christopher Rodríguez, air quality won’t “improve significantly” until the last hour of Friday, thanks to wind changes.

Rodríguez recalled that the capital’s public schools have canceled all outdoor activities, as well as the Ministry of Parks and Recreation.

wear mask

New York’s air quality began to improve slightly Thursday morning, although still at a “very unhealthy” level 5 out of 6.

The health commissioner asked citizens not to go outside unless it is “absolutely necessary” and recommended the use of masks, such as the N95, for those who have to carry out activities abroad.

Philadelphia and Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania, and other major cities such as Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati or Indianapolis are also the hardest hit today.

Vision problems caused by the smoke blanketing the skies in the region prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Temporarily stop flights to Philadelphia and LaGuardia and postpone all flights to Newark.

Although there were delays in the morning, these airports have seen very few cancellations so far, according to data from the FlightAware air traffic monitoring website.

While air quality improved in Canada early Thursday, the weather service predicts the indicator will dip to “high risk” levels during the day in cities like Toronto.

In the Greater Toronto Area, home to more than six million people, one-seventh of Canada’s population, authorities are recommending that seniors, children and people with health problems reduce outdoor activities that require physical exertion.