In the US, the air quality in the state of New York has become one of the worst in the world due to large-scale wildfires in Canada.
In New York, the air pollution index (IQair) reached 200, in the city of Syracuse – 400, with a norm of 50 or below, according to AP News.
It said the air is considered dangerous even for healthy people when the IQair reading exceeds 300. Residents of the region have resumed wearing medical masks, complaining of feeling unwell, and administrations are canceling outdoor events, including sporting events. In addition, smog has affected the operation of airports.
In the material, it was said that about 400 fires are raging in Canada, which have already forced 20,000 people to evacuate. Air with dangerous levels of pollution spread over the New York metropolitan area, central New York state, parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina and Indiana.
AP News added that the air in Canada is also polluted by smoke. So in the center of Ottawa, the capital of Canada, the smoke was so thick that the office towers on the other side of the river were almost invisible.
Canadian officials have stressed that this will be the country's worst wildfire season. It started earlier amid drier weather and spread very quickly across the country. According to Quebec Premier Francois Legault, the province is currently able to extinguish about 40 fires. It is impossible to send reinforcements from other regions, because fires are raging there as well.
Jennifer Kamau, spokeswoman for the Canadian Interagency Center for Wildfires, said more than 950 firefighters and other personnel had arrived from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with more arriving soon.
CNN explained that smoke from forest fires contains small solid particles of PM2.5. This dangerous pollutant penetrates deep into the lung tissue and enters the blood. It comes from sources such as burning fossil fuels, dust storms and wildfires. Breathing air with PM2.5 has been linked to a number of health problems, including asthma, heart disease and other respiratory ailments.
It will be recalled that a study by the European Environment Agency showed that on the continent at least 1,200 children die every year from the effects of inhaling air polluted by PM2.5 particles.
As EcoPolitics previously reported, the first forest fire of 2023 broke out in Spain in March in the regions of Valencia and Aragon, burning more than 4,000 hectares of forest.
