On air quality maps, purple signifies the worst of it. In reality, it’s a thick, hazardous haze that\u2019s disrupting daily life for millions of people across the U.S. and Canada, blotting out skylines and turning skies orange.<\/p>\n
With weather systems expected to barely budge, the smoky blanket billowing from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia and sending plumes of fine particulate matter as far away as North Carolina and northern Europe should persist into Thursday and possibly the weekend.<\/p>\n
That means at least another day of a dystopian-style detour that’s chased players from ballfields, actors from Broadway stages, delayed thousands of flights and sparked a resurgence in mask wearing and remote work \u2014 all while raising concerns about the health effects of prolonged exposure to such bad air.<\/p>\n
The weather system that’s driving the great Canadian-American smokeout \u2014 a low-pressure system over Maine and Nova Scotia \u2014 “will probably be hanging around at least for the next few days,\u201d U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Ramsey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cConditions are likely to remain unhealthy, at least until the wind direction changes or the fires get put out,\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cSince the fires are raging \u2014 they\u2019re really large \u2014 they\u2019re probably going to continue for weeks. But it\u2019s really just going be all about the wind shift.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the eastern U.S., officials warned residents to stay inside and limit or avoid outdoor activities again Thursday, extending \u201cCode Red\u201d air quality alerts in some places for a third straight day as forecasts showed winds continuing to push smoke-filled air south.<\/p>\n
The smoke has moved over Greenland and Iceland since June 1, and was expected to reach Norway on Thursday, the Norwegian Climate and Environmental Research Institute said, but wasn’t expected to be a health concern.<\/p>\n
In Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered schools to cancel outdoor recess, sports and field trips Thursday. In suburban Philadelphia, officials set up an emergency shelter so people living outside can take refuge from the haze.<\/p>\n
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the state was making a million N95 masks \u2014 the kind prevalent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic \u2014 available at state facilities, including 400,000 in New York City. She also urged residents to stay put.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need to go out and take a walk. You don\u2019t need to push the baby in the stroller,\u201d Hochul said Wednesday night. \u201cThis is not a safe time to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The message may be getting through. So far, officials said Wednesday, New York City has yet to see an uptick in 911 emergency calls related to respiratory issues and cardiac arrests.<\/p>\n
More than 400 blazes burning across Canada have left 20,000 people displaced. The U.S. has sent more than 600 firefighters and equipment to Canada. Other countries are also helping.<\/p>\n
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to President Joe Biden by phone Wednesday. Trudeau’s office said he thanked Biden for his support and that both leaders \u201cacknowledged the need to work together to address the devastating impacts of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canadian officials say this is shaping up to be the country’s worst wildfire season ever. It started early on drier-than-usual ground and accelerated quickly. Smoke from the blazes has been flowing into the U.S. since last month but intensified with recent fires in Quebec, where about 100 were considered out of control Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can taste the air,\u201d Dr. Ken Strumpf said in a Facebook post from Syracuse, New York, where the sky took on the colorful nickname of the local university: Orange.<\/p>\n
The smoke was so thick in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, that office towers just across the Ottawa River were barely visible. In Toronto, Yili Ma said her hiking group canceled a planned hike this week, and she was forgoing the restaurant patios that are a beloved summer tradition in a nation known for hard winters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI put my mask away for over a year, and now I\u2019m putting on my mask since yesterday,” Ma lamented.<\/p>\n
Eastern Quebec got some rain Wednesday, but Montreal-based Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault said no significant rain is expected for days in the remote areas of central Quebec where the wildfires are more intense.<\/p>\n
In the U.S., federal officials delayed some flights bound Thursday morning for New York’s LaGuardia Airport; Newark, New Jersey; and Philadelphia because smoke was limiting visibility. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it will likely need to take steps to manage the flow of air traffic into Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina, as well.<\/p>\n
Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies had their games postponed. On Broadway, \u201cHamilton\u201d and \u201cCamelot\u201d canceled Wednesday performances and \u201cPrima Facie\u201d star Jodie Comer left a matinee after 10 minutes because of difficulty breathing. The show restarted with an understudy, show publicists said.<\/p>\n
It was not to be at Central Park’s outdoor stage, either. Shakespeare in the Park canceled its Thursday and Friday performances of \u201cHamlet,\u201d saying \u2019tis not nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of wretched air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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