air quality alerts. Story by Joe Hutchison for Home | Daily Mail Online
More than 120 million Americans are now under ‘very unhealthy’ air quality alerts, with Chicago, Cleveland, Maryland and Pittsburgh the worst affected.
Smoke from Canada‘s raging wildfires have drifted south over the past few days
leaving dozens of states in the north east of the country under a thick smog.
A Code Red alert, a warning of unhealthy air, was issued for much of the Midwest and Washington DC on Wednesday. Several cities across Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Iowa were also experiencing ‘very unhealthy air’ according to AirNow.
The National Weather Service has warned that, with no end in sight to the Canadian wildfires, poor air quality is likely to continue. It comes amid fears that the smoke could compound already ongoing travel chaos over the July 4 weekend.
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New York City: The Statue of Liberty stands in front of a hazy New York City skyline in
this view from Jersey City, New Jersey© Provided by Daily Mail
Washington DC: Cars are seen in this picture driving in the hazy smoke on South Capitol
Street towards the Capitol Building© Provided by Daily Mail
Pittsburgh: Haze from Canadian Wildfires hangs over downtown Pittsburgh and PNC Park
as baseball fans take their seats before a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates
and the San Diego Padres Thursday
A map from AirNow shows the red areas indicating unhealthy air, yellow being moderate,
and orange being unhealthy to sensitive groups © Provided by Daily Mail
Washington DC: A group of people wearing mask walk past the U.S. Supreme Court
Building this morning © Provided by Daily Mail
Washington DC: A man walks his dog as smoke casts a haze over the National Mall
this morning © Provided by Daily Mail
New York City: A woman stands on the bow of the Miss New York Ferry to the
Statue of Liberty in New York on Thursday
New York City: An early morning haze shrouded the skyline this morning as the sun
rose up behind midtown Manhattan © Provided by Daily Mail
According to the World Air Quality Index, there are now five cities in the US that make
up the ten worst places for air quality on Earth.
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Chicago is currently ranked as the worst city, with an air quality of 166, while Washington DC takes the third spot with a reading of 151.
Chicago: In this aerial view, Marine One with US President Joe Biden flies over a
hazy Chicago on Wednesday Minneapolis is currently recording an air quality of 111,
Detroit is just below it with 107 and New York City follows with a reading of 98.
Milwaukee: People cross the street in downtown Milwaukee Thursday as Canadian
smoke engulfs the horizon
Detroit: A freighter passes through the Detroit River as smoke fills the sky reducing
visibility to Windsor, Ontario, on Wednesday
Related video: Just how bad is Chicago’s air quality? (WGN-TV Chicago)
According to an online calculator created via Berkeley University, it was found that an
AQI score of 64 translates to one cigarette smoked in a 24-hour period. Based on those calculations, people in Chicago are currently smoking 22.5 cigarettes every day due to
the surrounding smoke.
The smoke is made up of dangerous nanoparticles small enough to penetrate the bloodstream, and people have reported side-effects including irritation to the eyes
and throat and breathing problems.
The New York City Health Department is urging people to take precautions as the smoke
is expected to ‘significantly impact’ air quality and warned it could reach hazardous levels.
On Wednesday, eerie pictures showed the US Capitol submerged in thick smoke from the wildfires.
Currently, there are 500 active fires in Canada according to the Forest Fire Centre, with five new fires popping up today – 257 of these have been classified as being out of control, with 84 being held and another 159 under control.
Milwaukee: A haze is seen over the Milwaukee Art Museum on Tuesday due to the wildfires © Provided by Daily Mail
Currently, there are 500 active fires in Canada according to their Forest Fire Centre with five new fires popping up today. 257 of these have been classified as being out of control, with 84 being held and another 159 under control.
It comes just three weeks after New York City was enveloped by the smoke,
turning the sky an apocalyptic shade of orange and triggering numerous health warnings.
At the time, health experts also warned breathing the fog can be as damaging as smoking
22 cigarettes a day.
It comes as travelers at airports across the country have faced misery in the week
leading up to the July 4 celebrations, with scores of would-be passengers left stranded.
While the reason given for the delays and cancellations is said to be weather related the smoke could exacerbate the issues.
When the smoke previously hit the east coast of the U.S. earlier this month,
the Federal Aviation Administration announced ground stops for New York’s LaGuardia.
Flights into Philadelphia had also been impacted due to the smoke, delaying passengers.
1988 Great Yellowstone Fire
Collectively formed the largest wildfire in the recorded history of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Starting as many smaller individual fires, the flames quickly spread out of control due to drought conditions and increasing winds, combining into several large conflagrations which burned for several months.
The fires almost destroyed two major visitor destinations, on September 8, 1988, the entire park was closed to all non-emergency personnel for the first time in its history.[6]
Only the arrival of cool and moist weather in the late autumn brought the fires to an end.
A total of 793,880 acres (3,213 km2), or 36 percent of the park, burned at varying levels
of severity.[5]
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