Smoke from Canadian wildfires has exposed Americans to the worst levels of wildfire-related air pollution since data began being collected in 2006, according to a study shared with the Guardian .
“We had to check four times to make sure this was happening,” said Marshall Burke, an environmental scientist at Stanford University who led the study. “We’ve never seen anything like this on the East Coast before. This is a historic event.”
Stanford University researchers estimated that the average American was exposed to 27.5 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particulate matter carried in the smoke on June 7. Dust and other fire debris buried deep in the lungs can cause health hazards and even death when inhaled.
These pollution levels far exceed those seen in September 2020 on the US West Coast after a year of record wildfires.
In New York, the sky has turned orange. Schools and playgrounds have closed for outdoor activities and people are wearing masks outside.
Downtown Washington, DC is shrouded in smoke from wildfires in Canada. (Photo: Reuters)
In Washington, traffic is light and trains are not as crowded as usual as many companies ask employees to work from home. Some non-essential city services have been suspended, including parks and recreation, road construction and trash collection. The Washington Nationals baseball team has postponed a home game, while the National Zoo is closed for the day.
Health officials in more than a dozen US states have warned millions of residents that spending time outdoors could lead to respiratory problems due to high levels of fine particles in the air. US government data showed air quality readings above “hazardous” levels in Washington on the morning of June 8 (local time).
Many people wore face masks as a thick layer of wildfire smoke blanketed the US capital. The ash-filled smog grew thicker, obscuring the top of the Washington Monument.
"We urge residents and visitors to follow precautions," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote on Twitter.
The US National Weather Service has expanded air quality warnings from New England to South Carolina, as well as parts of the Midwest, including the states of Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.
According to private weather forecasting service AccuWeather, this is the worst case of wildfire smoke to blanket the Northeast US in more than 20 years.
The wildfire smoke is likely to persist until June 11, when a new storm system will shift winds and bring the possibility of rain to parts of the United States that are near drought conditions, National Weather Service meteorologist Peter Mullinax said.
Several Canadian cities including Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal have also been hit by smoke in recent days, as wildfires rage across both the eastern and western parts of the country.
Canada is currently experiencing its worst wildfire season on record. Thousands of people across Canada have been forced to evacuate and about 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) have burned, about 15 times the average over the past 10 years, according to Canada's Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair.
Minh Hoa (t/h according to VTV, Zing)
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