A plume of wildfire smoke from ongoing blazes in the Canadian prairies is tracking southeastward, already impacting the Dakotas, spreading across the Midwest and Ohio Valley, and is forecast to reach the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast later today.
The National Weather Service has issued Air Quality Alerts for the Northeast, including for the New York City metro area, due to elevated particulate levels associated with the smoke plume.
The Air Quality Index has six ratings that measure air pollution:
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Good (green): 0 to 50
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Moderate (yellow): 51 to 100
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Unhealthy for sensitive groups (orange): 101 to 150
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Unhealthy (red): 151 to 200
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Very unhealthy (purple): 201 to 300
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Hazardous (marron): 301 and higher
NWS warned that vulnerable groups in New Jersey, New York City, many surrounding suburbs, and southern Connecticut should remain indoors for much of the day, as smoke is set to blanket the region within hours.
Earlier this week, wildfires in Alberta, Canada — the country’s energy hub — forced about 7% of national output to go offline.
Canada’s government has faced severe criticism in recent years for failing to invest more in forest management strategies.
Even local media have admitted this…
Canada should be held accountable for the smoke-related disruptions it’s causing across the U.S.
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