The dramatic forest fires in Canada are now even polluting the air on the east coast of the USA. The smog is so bad that people shouldn’t go outside anymore.
Anyone who woke up on Wednesday morning in parts of the United States, such as New York or Washington, could get the impression that toast was burning somewhere or someone had lit a campfire. And still: the smell of woody smoke is in the air, the sky is hazy, the sun is caught behind a yellowish veil. The Capitol and the monument on the National Mall can only be made out vaguely. From Binghampton, near New York, the US National Weather Service tweeted: “The sun can no longer be seen, everything is orange.”
The weather apps on smartphones warn of air quality that is hazardous to health with “Air Quality Alert”. The authorities recommend moving all activities indoors if possible and keeping the windows closed. According to scientific studies, exposure to an air quality of around 190 AQI (Air Quality Index) for 24 hours is as damaging to your health as if you had smoked six cigarettes. And according to official figures, it will only get worse in the coming days.
The current images from New York, Philadelphia and Washington are reminiscent of the worst days in Beijing, where air quality is often particularly bad. Almost the entire east coast of the United States suffers from massive smog that makes the sky appear yellowish-hazy.
Dramatic forest fires in Canada
The reason for this lies more than a thousand kilometers away in neighboring Canada. Large-scale forest fires have been raging there for weeks now. Countless columns of smoke rise into the atmosphere and spread with the winds over almost the entire North American continent.
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In the USA, states on the east coast up to South Carolina are already affected. Particularly vulnerable population groups such as small children, the elderly or people with lung and heart diseases should not be outside for the time being. But the effects of the Canadian fires can also be smelled and seen on the West Coast, in California and in the Midwest.
According to the website IQAir, operated by a Swiss air quality technology company, the air quality in Toronto, Canada and New York is currently the third and fourth dirtiest city in the world. Delhi in India and Dhaka in Bangladesh rank first and second respectively.
The situation is out of control
200 forest fires are currently raging in Canada. In May alone, more than 2.7 million hectares of forest are said to have burned down in Canada. This corresponds to an area of around 3.8 million football pitches. “To have such conditions prevail so early in this season is unprecedented and is of deep concern to all Canadians,” said Bill Blair, Canada’s Minister for Emergency Preparedness, according to Canadian television broadcaster CBC.
Lightning strikes are said to be the trigger. The cause, however, lies in the already very dry and warm weather, which is unusual for this time of year. The extent of the fires is often described as “unprecedented”. The advancing climate change could have favored the catastrophe.
