Canadian Wildfire Smoke Covers Great Lakes
Canadian Wildfire Smoke Covers Great Lakes
Large areas of the United States have once more been covered in thick smoke from the seemingly never-ending Canadian wildfires, prompting advisories to residents to stay inside and little indication of an immediate break.
On Wednesday afternoon, a number of large cities, including Detroit and Indianapolis, reported some of the worst air quality in the country, with air quality indices well into the “very unhealthy” range.
In Chicago, late Wednesday morning, as President Biden arrived for an economic speech, Air Force One descended amid a thick blanket of smoke and smog at the O’Hare International Airport. Several of Pittsburgh’s historic bridges were obscured by smoke in the city centre. And a National Weather Service meteorologist in Buffalo, New York, issued a warning that the city’s pervasive “campfire smell” will only intensify during the day.
According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, there were roughly 500 active wildfires burning in Canada early on Wednesday, more than 250 of which were blazing out of control. This is one of Canada’s worst wildfire seasons in decades.
Climate change has increased circumstances that fuel catastrophic wildfires and their effects on air quality while also making temperatures that were once unthinkably high more frequent. According to David Brown, an air quality meteorologist at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the northern United States might face dangerous air quality for weeks to come because wildfire season in Canada often doesn’t even start until early July.
What more should you know?
Authorities in numerous cities, including New York, have cautioned citizens to expect worsening weather as the day goes on as the smoke from the wildfires is migrating east. Using our map, you can follow the forecast.
Residents of Cleveland were among those who were urged to spend as much time indoors with the windows closed as possible. Early on Wednesday morning, the city’s air quality index, which ranges from 0 to 500, increased to 291 and was very close to the threshold at which the air is deemed unsafe for all people to breathe.
A complex mixture of gases, dangerous air pollutants, water vapour, and particle pollution can be found in wildfire smoke. Chemicals, heavy metals, and plastics are just a few of the harmful and cancer-causing things that it might include. Here are some tips for being safe.
Several thousand minor league baseball fans gathered at Sahlen Field in downtown Buffalo on Wednesday afternoon to watch the Buffalo Bisons take the field against the Worcester Red Sox.
Fans were asked to wait for more information after the game’s planned 1:05 p.m. start time due to announcements made on Twitter. A grounds crew worked on a problem with the infield dirt, a section of which was soaking wet between second and third base, as the sky appeared to become darker and the smell of smoke grew stronger.
The infield or the smoke was the subject of a fierce debate among spectators and stadium staff.
The smoke on Wednesday didn’t seem as heavy to Hunter Dimeola, who works for a sports analytics company, as it did earlier in June during the previous Canadian wildfire smoke outbreak. But he added that it was still horrible.
He said, “I’m surprised they haven’t already called off the game.”
After 2 p.m., the game was ultimately cancelled for the day. However, according to the Bisons’ Twitter account, the field was rendered “unplayable” due to a sprinkler malfunction rather than the smokey air. Two tickets to another game this season were made available to fans.
Cathy Gibson said that the air quality outside the stadium was essentially the same as when she left her home in Towson, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday. In order to see her daughter play in a baseball competition, she is travelling with her family.
At home, it’s the same, Ms. Gibson remarked. It smells like burning plastic and is visible in the air.
In the coming 24 hours, Rachel Jones, a nurse, predicted that the emergency room at the hospital where she worked would be packed with smoke-related cases, particularly for patients whose health was already precarious.
Her friend Ciara Scalzo, a nurse who works for the same organisation but at a different hospital, had wanted to go to the game with her.
I guess I’m glad the smoke wasn’t the cause of the delay, as Ms. Scalzo noted, “I thought it would be.”
However, Ms. Jones continued, “It still stinks because today was our day off.”
