How bad is the air quality in YOUR area? Millions smoke the equivalent of 25 cigarettes a day
Health experts are warning millions of people to stay indoors and avoid exposure to the dangerous smog engulfing the East Coast.
New York City has become one of the most polluted cities in the world due to smoke from more than 400 untamed wildfires burning over the Canadian border.
After the smoke first settled in New York City Wednesday morning, smoke spread throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania throughout the evening. A southerly wind will blow through several Mid-Atlantic states on Thursday, with fog moving into Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington and the Carolinas.
The smoke consists of dangerous nanoparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream, and people have reported side effects, including eye and throat irritation and difficulty breathing.
A study of University of Berkeley found that elevated levels of air pollution can be catastrophic, with some residents of the Northeast currently breathing air equivalent to smoking an entire pack of cigarettes during the day.
Due to the level of air pollution, some Americans breathe air equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. Figures saw 64 AQI points equivalent to one cigarette, correct as of Thursday morning
A jogger braves New York’s poor air quality as the sun rises over One World Trade Center Thursday morning
A map of the impact wildfire smoke has had on air quality on the East Coast. Purple parts are considered ‘dangerous’, red is ‘unhealthy’, orange is ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ and yellow is ‘moderate’
The must-have smoky hue raised fears that millions of Americans are at risk from air pollution, especially the elderly, pregnant women and children.
And the level of risk to a person’s respiratory health can be equated to the risk of cigarette smoking, using internationally recognized Air Quality Index (AQI) scores to quantify the hazard.
AQI scores measure the safety of breathing the atmosphere by monitoring particles smaller than 2.5 microns, in addition to factors such as wind speed and temperature.
Scores range from 0 to 500, with anything over 300 considered “dangerous” — a level reached by countless subways on the East Coast in recent days.
On Thursday, the hardest-hit area was Windsor Township — about 70 miles west of Philadelphia — coming in with a shocking score of 457. That dwarfs India’s notoriously dirty air, which scored 316.
According to an online calculator created through the Berkeley University study, an AQI score of 64 was found to translate to one cigarette smoked in a 24-hour period.
Air Quality Index scores across America have soared in recent days, with many cities climbing above 200 – deemed to be in the ‘very unhealthy’ range
The smoky yellow haze enveloped New York City on Wednesday, June 7
New York’s Yankee Stadium pictured under the hazy conditions prior to a game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, which has since been postponed due to poor air quality
NYC: The Brooklyn Bridge can be seen at dusk amid hazy conditions in the early hours of Thursday morning
To scale, this calculation found that the city of Harrisburg, PA, which was one of the hardest-hit areas on Thursday, earned a score of 361 AQI.
This meant that Harrisburg residents breathed air equivalent to smoking 18 cigarettes, a disturbing figure surpassed only by Lancaster, PA, which reached 25 cigarettes.
In Wilmington, Delaware, air quality dropped to the same as smoking about 10 cigarettes, and Arlington, Virginia matched nine.
Non-smokers in Washington DC will be displeased to learn that their air was as much as 11 cigarettes, while New York City had six.
All figures to calculate pollution levels were taken from Thursday morning and several cities saw their AQI scores fluctuate throughout the day.
Pandemic-era masks were back in New York City after health officials urged residents to protect themselves from the pollution
WASHINGTON, DC: Members of the Marine Corps honor color watch rehearsal as the sun rises over a thick layer of smoke, Thursday, June 8, 2023
As the smoke cleared, a large New York City hospital group told DailyMail.com they saw a few people come in with eye or throat irritation, chest pain or shortness of breath.
During a state visit by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, President Joe Biden said he is sending more than 600 firefighters and personnel to Canada to help fight the wildfires.
“Yesterday I spoke with Prime Minister Trudeau and offered any additional assistance Canada needs to rapidly accelerate efforts to put out these fires, especially those in Quebec, where the fires are having the most direct impact on American communities,” he said in a statement. a statement. .
“I have directed the National Interagency Fire Center to respond quickly to Canadian requests for additional firefighters and firefighting equipment such as air tankers.
“I have asked Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to update me on his progress to ensure we are proactively addressing the air traffic implications of deteriorating air quality based on lessons learned from previous incidents.
“Stay safe and follow the guidance of your local officials.”