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 brown color with orange tints, nothing can be seen on the horizon of this supposedly sunny day, as if an extraordinary being had swallowed all the skyscrapers.
New Yorkers, like millions of citizens of the East Coast of the United States, have been more than confused this week by the smokescreen that has spread and, they confess, they had never seen. It smells charred, “barbecued” as the construction worker says. He even has a hard time breathing.
New York had the worst air quality index in the world on Wednesday with a record on this scale of 342, double the chronic pollution of Dubai (168) and New Delhi (164).
In fact, the covid masks that had almost disappeared are recycled for the occasion. At the time of the pandemic, New York seemed like a ghost town because of the physical emptiness. Now that feeling is back. People, to a lesser extent, continue on the street, much less on restaurant terraces, but with a strange feeling in which a certain fear is not hidden.
How can it be that the forest burns in Canada and the effects are felt more than 1,000 kilometers away? This is the question and the most common answer is that the fires in the neighboring country are of such magnitude that only the impact of climate change could justify such an event.
“Maybe this is a foretaste of what the apocalypse could be,” comments a smiling woman on a visit to the Bronx, where only when you get out of the subway do you notice a much higher suffocation than in Manhattan. "In the Holy Scriptures it is stated that suddenly it became night," she continues in her joke. That she is, though she doesn't hide her concern.
The Big Apple has weathered hurricanes, tragic floods, crippling snowstorms for days on end, but this situation is unheard of. There is no talk of anything else and it is done with concern, with a kind of question of what is happening to us?
The meteorologists of all the television channels showed maps on Wednesday night in which a sunny day was announced for this Thursday. Then they superimposed others with the smoke screen effect in which the sun disappeared. The phenomenon will still continue, at least until Friday, although it is predicted that the entire summer could be that way. Fire season in Canada has just started with unexpected ferocity.
This Thursday has dawned bright, but with a somewhat cloudy light. The same thing happened on Wednesday and as the hours passed, the curtain of smoke and the smell of burning fell.
President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Truedau held an emergency talk yesterday. Biden expressed his full support for Canadians in the face of the devastating fires. He assured that he has given the order to send all available federal assets against the fires. So far, 600 American firefighters have been deployed and many more are expected to arrive.
Schools across the U.S. East Coast canceled outdoor activities, air traffic slowed and authorities told millions of Americans to stay home Wednesday as smoke from the Canadian fires drifted south. .
Trudeau stressed that these fires are affecting daily routines, lives and livelihoods, and air quality. "We are seeing more and more these types of fires due to climate change," he asserted.
Canada, which has suffered this year the burning of four million hectares by forest fires, had registered more than 400 fires on Tuesday. Dry weather and strong winds have contributed to the spread of particles toward the United States, coming mainly from Quebec and Nova Scotia.
Canadian authorities warned Wednesday that the smoke generated by hundreds of wildfires will place air quality in Toronto, Canada's largest city, at high risk levels.
The Canadian Meteorological Service reported that the air quality in Toronto would drop on Wednesday night to a "moderate risk" and that it will reach "high risk" this Thursday, so it recommended that people with respiratory problems limit their activities in the abroad.
On the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the air quality has worsened to a very high risk level of 9 on a scale of 11. With these levels, the authorities advise that the general population reduce their activities abroad . "Smoke from forest fires can harm everyone's health even in low concentrations," the Weather Service stressed.
In the United States, the US National Weather Service issued air quality advisories for virtually the entire Atlantic coast. Health authorities from Vermont to South Carolina and as far west as Ohio and Kansas warned residents that spending time outdoors could cause respiratory problems due to high levels of fine particles in the atmosphere.
"It is critical that Americans experiencing dangerous air pollution, especially those with health concerns, listen to local authorities to protect themselves and their families," Biden said on Twitter.
AccuWeather, the United States' private weather forecasting service, said the thick haze and soot that stretched from high ground to ground level was the worst outbreak of wildfire smoke to cover the northeastern United States in more than 20 years old.
The famous silhouette of the New York skyline, normally visible for miles, seemed to vanish in an otherworldly veil of smoke that, according to some residents, caused them discomfort and respiratory problems.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the situation an "emergency crisis," stating that the rate of air pollution in some areas of her state was eight times higher than normal.
Reduced visibility from haze forced the Federal Aviation Administration to slow air traffic in the New York and Philadelphia area from other parts of the East Coast and upper Midwest, with flight delays averaging half an hour. . Schools across the East Coast have suspended outdoor activities, including sports, field trips and recess.
Even Major League Baseball was affected, as the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies postponed home games scheduled for Wednesday. A National Women's Soccer League game in Harrison, New Jersey, was also postponed, as was a WNBA women's basketball game in Brooklyn.
In some areas, the air quality index (ICA), which measures the main pollutants, including particles produced by fires, was well above 400, according to Airnow, which establishes 100 as "unhealthy" and 300 as "dangerous".
As of noon (1600 GMT), Bethlehem, Pennsylvania had the worst air quality index in the country, with an AQI reading of 410. Among large cities, New York on Wednesday afternoon had the highest AQI in the world, with 342, about double the rate of chronically polluted cities like Dubai (168) and Delhi (164), according to IQAir.
Smoke billowed over the US border from Canada, where hundreds of fires have scorched 3.8 million acres and forced 120,000 people from their homes in an unusually early and intense start to the fire season.
The bad conditions will continue at least until the weekend, when the arrival of a low pressure front is expected to renew the air. The authorities have warned that this year will be one of the worst in the country's history.
