New York City is “code red” for unhealthy air quality as smoke from Canadian wildfires streaming across the Northeast reached dangerous levels on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service warning was issued until midnight for NYC’s five boroughs as well as Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam counties.
A ‘red flag’ warning was issued for parts of New Jersey, with conditions expected to be highest in the northeast on Tuesday afternoon.
The unhealthy air seeping through the city is due to smoke generated last week from a fire in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia that has affected quality levels from New York City to Washington, D.C.
As of Tuesday morning, more than 160 wildfires were still burning in Quebec, including at least 114 that are out of control. The recent wildfires have been described by Canadian federal officials as one of Canada’s worst fire seasons on record.
A photo of the smoky skies has covered New York City. An air quality alert was issued Tuesday by the National Weather Service for Manhattan, the five boroughs, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam counties until midnight
Due to the Canadian wildfires, a thick haze hangs over the Brooklyn Bridge this week. Air quality in the city’s five boroughs is increasingly severe, reaching levels in the 150s, according to AirNow, a U.S. government platform that tracks air quality based on a system — zero is considered the healthiest air and 500 the unhealthiest.
The photo shows a firefighter putting out a forest fire in Quebec on Sunday. More than 480 wilderness firefighters have been on the scene fighting the fires that have devastated acres of land
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation urged residents to conserve energy and reduce pollution by taking public transportation, turning off lights in unoccupied areas, and using fans to circulate air, until the smoke has cleared.
AirNowa US government platform, tracks air quality and gives it a score between zero and 500 – with zero being considered the healthiest.
The assessment for the city of New York shows levels now in the 150s, according to AirNow. In Ottawa, Canada’s capital, that level is nearly 250, Bloomberg reported.
The Environmental Protection Agency urged New Yorkers to limit outdoor activities until smoke clears the area.
“Just take some precautions to make sure you don’t overexert yourself, put yourself in a situation where you could be negatively affected by it, knowing that the air quality has definitely deteriorated compared to normal,” meteorologist John Homenuk told the Gothamist.
A haze of smoke over Boston captured by an EarthCam
A view of the Manhattan skyline shrouded in mist
A tweet from the National Weather Service updating the public on smoking conditions
Since the fires started to burn, more than 480 firefighters have been on the scene, many from different counties coming to help.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault said Quebec can typically fight about 30 fires, but is now stretched.
“When I talk to the premiers of other provinces, they have their hands full,” Legault said at a briefing in Quebec City, “he said.
By Friday, there were 324 fires across Canada and by Monday the number had grown to a whopping 413, and by late afternoon the number was rising again.
Emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair said the “situation remains serious.”
“The images we’ve seen so far this season are some of the most serious we’ve ever seen in Canada,” Blair said.
“The current forecast for the coming months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.”