There is no other topic of conversation in New York, and it is not an exaggeration, than that of the soot curtain, orange atmosphere and scorched smell.
"In the conspiracies they assure that they have launched smoke bombs," a man in a suit explained to another crossing Broadway Avenue, on the third day of impact by the wave of fires underway in Canada, some 400 that are burning uncontrollably. Around a hundred are concentrated in the province of Quebec.
US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had an emergency conversation. Biden expressed his full support in the face of the devastating fires. He assured that he has given the order to send all available federal assets to fight the fire. 600 firefighters had already been deployed and many more are expected.
Trudeau remarked that this destruction is increasing "due to climate change." In an article in The New York Times, David Wallace-Wells noted that "as smoke darkens the sky, the future grows clearer." Paint dystopia.
This rare effect, which experts call "atmospheric dispersion", is found in all corners of the largest metropolis in the country and beyond, in practically all the northern territories of the East Coast of the United States.
Some 120 million citizens are in a state of environmental alert due to poor air quality, from Minneapolis to Washington DC, to Philadelphia or Boston. And it moves south. New York has been transformed into a sepia-colored city, as if the present were a photo of the past.
There is a clear impact on everyday life, and not just as a topic of conversation, which is demonstrated by the White House announcement to postpone the gay pride party, scheduled for this Thursday, until Saturday, due to poor air quality. .
From the promontory of a building under construction in the South Bronx, a worker points in one direction and assures that "under normal conditions" the famous Manhattan skyline can be seen. As if it were a fade to black, or rather a shade of brown with orange tints, nothing can be seen on the horizon of this theoretically sunny day, as if an extraordinary being had gobbled up all the skyscrapers and an abyss had been left.
New Yorkers, like millions of Americans, have been confused this week by this phenomenon, which, they confess, they had never seen, not even the most veterans. It smells “of barbecue,” says the construction worker, or of a burning tire. He even has a hard time breathing. The city had the worst air quality index in the world on Wednesday, with an IQair score of 342 (unmatched since the 1960s), double the chronic pollution of Dubai (168) and Delhi (164). .
In fact, the covid masks, which had almost disappeared, are recycled for the occasion. At the time of the pandemic, the Big Apple seemed like a ghost town due to its physical emptiness. Now that feeling is back. People, to a lesser extent than usual, are still on the streets, much less on restaurant terraces, but with a strange feeling and some uncertainty. How can it be that the forest burns in Canada and the effects are suffered from more than 1,000 kilometers away? The world is a handkerchief.
Question of the magnitude of the accidents, encouraged by global warming, the direction of the wind and low pressures. This situation affects visibility, which complicates road traffic and flights or activities abroad, which is why baseball league games are cancelled. It has led to the suspension of school activities or the recommendation that windows be closed and, if possible, stay at home due to the threat of respiratory diseases.
"Maybe it's a foretaste of what the apocalypse could be," says a smiling woman on a visit to the Bronx, where only when you get out of the subway do you notice a hot flash that's much higher than in Manhattan. "In the Holy Scriptures it is stated that it suddenly became night," she continues in her irony. Which it is, although she does not hide a certain fear.
New York has weathered hurricanes, tragic floods, crippling snowstorms for days on end, but this circumstance is unheard of. The question arises: what is happening to us?
Weather forecasters showed maps on television Wednesday night announcing a sunny Thursday. Then they would overlay other graphics with the smokescreen effect in which the sun disappeared into mists. The foggy phenomenon will continue, at least until Friday, although it is predicted that the entire summer could be like this.
That's how it is. Thursday dawns brighter, although the sun is clouding over. And the smell of singeing and the danger posed by air quality remain, despite its slight improvement.
