The large amount of smoke in the United States that has blown over from the unusually early and intense wildfires in Canada threatens the health of more than 100 million Americans. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced this on Thursday. The US Federal Environmental Agency has labeled much of the air quality in the densely populated Northeast of the US as ‘unhealthy’.
The EPA advises people with health problems to stay indoors and wear a face mask when they go outside, but residents who are not vulnerable are also warned about the poor air quality. In several cities, schools are keeping their students indoors and zoos have moved all animals indoors.
Skyscrapers
In New York, the orange smog blanket is so thick that the tops of some skyscrapers have become invisible. The city handed out more than a million free mouth-nose masks on Thursday, after the local environmental service issued a health warning on Wednesday. “If you’re a New Yorker with heart or breathing problems, be careful when you go out today,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “Try to limit your outdoor activities to the bare essentials.”
The smoke will reach the Midwest of the US and southern states such as Georgia and Tennessee in the coming days, calculated NOAA, the American counterpart of the KNMI. “You may have noticed that the sky is a little hazy here,” the weather service of the southern city of Memphis wrote on Twitter.
Foreign aid
In Canada itself, the fires have been causing major nuisance for some time, including in the metropolis of Toronto, where suffocating air pollution plagues residents. Tens of thousands of people from the west of the country to the east coast have been evacuated in recent weeks.
Across Canada, 3 million hectares of forest went up in flames in May, about the same as in the entire season during the worst fire years of the past decade. Canadian authorities predict an above-average fire season into August.
Firefighters are assisted by the Canadian Army and fire crews from other countries. On Wednesday, the US announced it would send more than 600 firefighters to Canada to help fight the fires. Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are also sending hundreds of rescue workers.
The European Union is also going to help Canada with firefighting. France, Portugal and Spain have offered the assistance of more than 280 firefighters. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reports on Twitter that more help is on the way.
Read also Quebec is used to fires, but now they are very big
A version of this article also appeared in the June 9, 2023 newspaper.