Closing Summary
It is slightly past 6pm in New York City. Here is a wrap up of the day’s key events:
In a tweet on Thursday, US vice-president Kamala Harris said that the Canadian wildfires and subsequent smoke haze shrouding many east coast states “are intensifying because of the climate crisis”. She added that the Biden-Harris administration was working closely alongside Canadian officials in response to the crisis.
The US experienced its worst toxic air pollution from wildfire smoke in its recent recorded history on Wednesday, researchers have found, with people in New York exposed to levels of pollution more than five times above the national air quality standard. The rapid analysis of the extreme event, shared with the Guardian, found that smoke billowing south from forest fires in Canada caused Americans to suffer the worst day of average exposure to such pollution since a dataset on smoky conditions started in 2006.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, has lashed out against Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s official conservative opposition, accusing him of refusing to put forward concrete plans to fight climate crisis. Speaking in parliament and gradually raising his voice, Trudeau said: “For the leader of the opposition to consider that the forest fires that are taking people from their communities and destroying their homes are a mere distraction … is shameful.”
US president Joe Biden has spoken Trudeau and offered to deploy all available federal firefighting assets. In a statement released on Wednesday, the White House announced that the Biden administration has offered additional support to respond to the wildfires currently burning across Canada.
Toxic smoke from Canadian wildfires could linger over vast swathes of the US for days, officials warned, as millions of Americans remained under air pollution warnings. Across the eastern US residents were again urged to stay inside and limit or avoid outdoor activities on Thursday, as schools in some cities closed, sporting events were canceled and air travel was disrupted.
Protesters are set to descend upon the White House on Thursday amid growing anger among climate activists at Joe Biden for allowing a controversial gas pipeline in Appalachia to be fast-tracked. Several hundred protesters are expected to demand Biden “reclaim his climate legacy” by blocking the Mountain Valley pipeline, a 300-mile pipeline that will bring fracked gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia.
New York governor Kathy Hochul tweeted that from Thursday 1m N95 masks would be made available at state facilities. She also urged people living in the state to remain indoors.
That’s it from me today, Maya Yang, as we close the blog. Thank you for following along.
Updated
Here is a video of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s fiery address in parliament during which he slammed conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre for climate crisis inaction:
Updated
President Joe Biden has asked transport secretary Pete Buttigieg to keep him informed about his progress on managing air traffic implications as a result of the worsening air quality, he announced on Thursday.
I've asked @SecretaryPete to keep me informed about his progress to proactively manage the air traffic implications of the deteriorated air quality based on lessons learned from prior incidents.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 8, 2023
Hundreds of flights have been delayed across the country as of Thursday afternoon due to poor visibility and smoke, according to FlightAware.com.
Jean Bright, who is originally from the UK but now lives in Ottawa, told the Guardian that she can see blue sky in Arnprior today but adds the scale of the problem is “almost incomprehensible”.
She said:
“Once fires get going, they are incredibly difficult to put out. There aren’t enough fire fighters, pumpers, specialized gear, water bombers, not to mention road access into dense remote bush.
Some small communities, around 2,000 people, have volunteer firefighters. And they are the lucky ones. There are few bush or logging roads, access is severely limited.
The water bombers need a fair stretch of water such as a big lake to suck up water. They have been going full blast. The pilots also need a break as they can’t fly 24/7. “
With Canada currently fighting hundreds of wildfires in multiple provinces, the Guardian took a look at the small village of Lytton in British Columbia which in 2021 broke Canada’s highest temperature ever at 49.6C.
Two days after the temperature skyrocketed to nearly 50C, a wildfire scorched the entire village.
Here is the documentary the Guardian produced on Lytton and how its residents have been relying on a collective spirit to heal:
Here is footage of the wildfires currently raging across British Columbia, Canada:
With hundreds of forest fires spreading uncontrollably across the country, 3.8m hectares (or 9.4m acres) have already been burned, according to government ministers.
New York City’s health advisory has been extended until 11.59pm on Friday, 9 June, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Thursday.
“Please continue to limit your outdoor activities and mask up,” he said.
The Air Quality Health Advisory has now been extended until 11:59 pm Friday, June 9.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) June 8, 2023
Please continue to limit your outdoor activities and mask up.
More updates: https://t.co/81xFOADPrp pic.twitter.com/j0JIbeteUn
Updated
Massachusetts Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren has also chimed in on the climate change discussion as smoke from Canada’s wildfires continue to spread across the US.
“Extreme weather. Drought. Massive wildfires that destroy our air quality. Evidence of a climate crisis is all around us and Northeasterners can look no further than out their own windows to find it,” Warren tweeted.
“We need to address this crisis head-on—there’s no more time to waste,” she added.
Extreme weather. Drought. Massive wildfires that destroy our air quality. Evidence of a climate crisis is all around us and Northeasterners can look no further than out their own windows to find it.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) June 8, 2023
We need to address this crisis head-on—there’s no more time to waste.
New Yorkers appeared to poke fun at the apocalyptic aesthetic that has engulfed the city in a dense yellow as a result of smoke drifting from Canada’s wildfires.
In one video posted onto Twitter, one resident appeared to carry a speaker blasting the soundtrack of Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 movie Dune, a science fiction epic set in a galactic desert.
if i had no idea what dune was and i heard that shit blasting from god knows where in the middle of some apocalyptic smog i'd shit myself several times over https://t.co/Rej0mEVTv6
— red (@95IMPULSE) June 7, 2023
“I’d think it was the end of the world if I didn’t know abt dune,” one person replied.
Another person wrote, “certified dune moment in New York rn.”
New pictures are coming through on the newswires of the wildfires currently burning across Canada’s multiple provinces including Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec:
Mark Fischer, 58, an IT project manager from Royersford, Pennsylvania has shared with the Guardian the ways that the smokey haze has affected him.
Fischer wrote:
“I’ve been fairly lucky that I’ve been able to stay in the house since yesterday, apart from feeding the birds and taking out the trash. I’ve only been outside for minutes at a time, but it was enough to irritate my eyes this morning. Not my breathing so much, because I kind of held my breath. I didn’t want to risk it.
“I’ve remained inside since yesterday. I’m thankful we still have electricity and gas. This morning the sky had a surreal light salmon color, not as dramatic as the burnt orange from yesterday’s NYC photos. But the sun is breaking through now.”
We’d like to continue hearing from our readers in Canada and the US about the impact of wildfires and smoke. Please feel free to share your story below:
Mary Yang is speaking to protesters in DC who oppose the Mountain Valley pipeline:
Protesters outside the White House said the wildfires are an example of why dirty energy projects must not go ahead.
Demonstrators said they were especially disappointed in Biden, who last week signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act to avert a first ever national default in a deal that included fast tracking the controversial pipeline.
“I feel like he stabbed us in the back, said Don Jones, who has lived in Southwest Virginia for 65 years and was sued by the company for refusing to allow construction on his family’s land.
Jones and his wife have been “fighting” against the pipeline since 2015, when they say construction began on their farmland in Giles County, Virginia. While no longer in use, the land has been in his family for seven generations, and Jones said he feels a need to protect it.
Jones, who voted for Biden in 2020, said he no longer trusts the president and wouldn’t vote for him again. “Unless he fixes this.”
“It might be rural country, Appalachia, dirt people, whatever they might think of us,” Jones said. “But there are some pretty smart people. They’ve worked the land, they respect the land, they’re stewards of it.”
Jones said the pipeline, which is set to cross streams and rivers, will harm access to clean water.
“It’s in the ground,“ said Jones, of the pipeline. “But We’re hoping gas will never be able to fill it.”
“We have to fight for the water,” Yvette Jones, his wife of 38 years, added. “If you don’t have water, you don’t have life.”
A small group of the demonstrators have moved to the sidewalk (blocking it is not allowed) and they expect to be arrested.
— Mary Yang (@MaryRanYang) June 8, 2023
“Hey Joe, get off it; Put people over profit,” they are now chanting. (Unclear Manchin or Biden) pic.twitter.com/oU52VH3LXb
Updated
Pipeline protest begins outside White House
Mary Yang is reporting from a protest in Washington DC about the Mountain Valley pipeline:
A couple hundred protesters gathered in front of the White House Thursday afternoon, most from Southwestern Virginia and West Virginia, who say they were impacted by the route of the Mountain Valley pipeline.
As they gathered, the air quality in Washington was “very unhealthy” according to the site airnow.com, due to smoke from the Canada wildfires.
“Humanity has reached a breaking point,” one speaker said, addressing the group, adding that it was fitting that the earth was currently “on fire.”
Protestors also called on Biden to declare a climate emergency, calling the hazy air “toxic dust.”
I’m outside the White House where a couple hundred protesters, many from Southwest Virginia and West Virginia, are demonstrating against the #MountainValleyPipeline, OK-ed via last week’s debt ceiling deal.
— Mary Yang (@MaryRanYang) June 8, 2023
Air quality “very unhealthy” rn — many masked up pic.twitter.com/UtE4donaiV
Updated
US president Joe Biden announced that he has dictated a national inter-agency fire center response to Canada’s request for further assistance in fighting its wildfires.
“I’ve dictated a national inter-agency fire center response to Canada’s request for additional fire fighters and the fire suppression assets such as air tankers. We already have 600 American firefighters on the ground,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Biden said that he will also send “fire suppression assets, such as air tankers” to help fight the wildfires.
Updated
New York Republican representative Marc Molinaro told Fox News that it is too soon to start “lecturing” about climate change as the smoke from the wildfires continue to shroud numerous east coast states.
Speaking on Fox and Friends, Molinaro said, “There is little question that Canada needs to obviously focus on forest management but this isn’t the moment to start lecturing people about the science of climate change. Right now it’s about putting out a fire and keeping people safe.”
Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro on Fox & Friends: It's too soon to politicize the smoke by lecturing about climate change (sound familiar?) pic.twitter.com/2v3TnIXQwC
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 8, 2023
A Code Purple air quality alert has been issued for Washington DC on Thursday.
Code purple means that all groups should stay indoors for as much as possible and that those that must work outside should reduce their work if possible and also wear a high-quality mask such as an N95 or N95.
A Code Purple air quality alert has been issued for DC today, June 8. During a Code Purple alert, the air quality is very unhealthy. Residents are encouraged to take the following precautions and visit https://t.co/vvMM9EJ0ph for the latest air quality data. 1/2
— Alert DC (@AlertDC) June 8, 2023
Experts in Canada say the country is increasingly forced to grapple with two wildfire peaks as climate conditions continue to shift.
“Typically, the peak of the wildfire season is often in the middle of the summer, not now. But we’ve had more area burn than any year since we’ve been keeping records. This has been an extraordinary start to the year,” said Paul Kovacs, the executive director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction at Western University.
“But most years after this point in the year, it gets much worse, the fires really take off. And should that be what’s coming next. We’re very much on edge.”
More than half of the 414 fires burning from coast to coast are determined to be out of control said emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair.
In Quebec, where more than 160 fires are burning and the smoke has pushed down into the United States prompting dozens of air quality warnings, the province’s premier pleaded with residents to follow evacuation orders.
“Don’t put your life in danger,” premier François Legault said. “When we ask you to evacuate it’s because there’s a real risk.”
Already more than 11,000 people have been displaced by the wildfires and a record 457,000 hectares have burned.
“In the history of (the agency) – nearly 50 years – we’ve surpassed the worst year on record,” Quebec natural resources minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina told reporters. “It’s a situation that’s unprecedented.”
Updated
Readers in Canada and the US have got in touch to describe how they have been affected from the smell of smoke to breathing particles in the air.
‘There’s a lot of gunk in the air’
I live right on the border with Ontario. The fires are in an adjoining county, Pontiac county. We were told to stay indoors and keep the windows closed, and if you must go out, be very careful and not exert yourself. This is a first in this area; I’ve lived here for 29 years. My general feeling is that this is going to be the new normal actually. They say that wildfires are increasing throughout the whole world. And this is just one aspect of it. This has brought it home to us.
Blue has returned to the sky but for the past few days, it’s been like pure grey, a slate grey, and extremely depressing. And there’s a lot of gunk in the air. I was wearing my mask outside. David Mills, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Here is a satellite image depicting plumes of wildfire across North America:
“Weather satellite data showed the plume travelling in a South-Easterly direction on the 6th and 7th of June. On the 7th, thunderstorms along the US Eastern Seaboard lofted smoke and gas into the stratosphere, while on the 8th the smoke itself prevented clouds from forming – meaning that New York has a cloudless day even though visibility was extremely poor,” write Simon Proud, a scientist affiliated with the UK’s National Centre for Earth Observation.
US vice-president Kamala Harris: fires intensifying because of climate crisis
In a tweet on Thursday, US vice-president Kamala Harris said that the Canadian wildfires and subsequent smoke haze shrouding many east coast states “are intensifying because of the climate crisis”.
Millions of people are experiencing dangerous air quality due to wildfires across Canada, which are intensifying because of the climate crisis.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) June 8, 2023
Our Administration is working closely with Canada, and state and local officials to respond. For all communities experiencing smoke…
She added that the Biden-Harris administration was working closely alongside Canadian officials in response to the crisis.
Updated
Speaking to reporters yesterday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the wildfires burning across Canada and the smoke spreading into the US is “yet another alarming example of the ways in which the climate crisis is disturbing our lives and our communities.”
"I know for many communities out West, this is nothing new. They experience this every year, but it is certainly getting worse. It is yet another alarming example of the ways in which the climate crisis is disturbing our lives and our communities." —@PressSec on air quality pic.twitter.com/47RIl3My2l
— Climate Power (@ClimatePower) June 7, 2023
US saw record toxic air pollution from wildfire smoke in recent history
The US experienced its worst toxic air pollution from wildfire smoke in its recent recorded history on Wednesday, researchers have found, with people in New York exposed to levels of pollution more than five times above the national air quality standard.
The rapid analysis of the extreme event, shared with the Guardian, found that smoke billowing south from forest fires in Canada caused Americans to suffer the worst day of average exposure to such pollution since a dataset on smoky conditions started in 2006.
“It’s the worst by far, I mean, Jesus, it was bad,” said Marshall Burke, an environmental scientist at Stanford University who led the work. “It’s hard to believe to be honest, we had to quadruple check it to see if it was right. We have not seen events like this, or even close to this, on the east coast before. This is an historic event.”
Updated
US Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib has called on Michigan residents to check on each other as Michigan continues to be shrouded in a thick layer of smoke.
“Thinking about all of our children and residents living with asthma + respiratory illnesses. This is so dangerous for them & all of our communities who already live with poor air quality. This is going to make it worse. Please take time today and check in on your neighbors,” she tweeted.
On Wednesday morning, Detroit ranked second in the world for worst air quality, according to IQ air quality index.
On Thursday morning, Detroit ranked 12th, with New York coming in at number one.
Tlaib went on to tweet, “None of us should have to fight to breathe clean air. It’s our right,” adding that last week’s debt ceiling deal which reduces environmental protections “makes this worse.”
Detroit currently has the second-worst air quality in the country, behind New York City.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) June 8, 2023
None of us should have to fight to breathe clean air. It's our right.
Last week's deal to reduce environmental protections + fast track a pipeline makes this worse. https://t.co/56hOFwrV5h
Canada PM Justin Trudeau accuses opposition leader of fighting his climate change plan
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has lashed out against Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s official conservative opposition, accusing him of refusing to put forward concrete plans to fight climate change.
Speaking in parliament and gradually raising his voice, Trudeau said:
“For the leader of the opposition to consider that the forest fires that are taking people from their communities and destroying their homes are a mere distraction…is shameful.
The fact of the matter is, he doesn’t have anything to say about that because he refuses to put forward any real plan to fight against climate change and he does nothing but fight against our plan to fight against climate change. If he has a better plan, let him say it because we’ve been waiting a long time for it! But he has no plan to fight climate change, he still questions whether it exists while Canada is burning!”
Trudeau is riled up about the wildfires & socks it to conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre #ClimateCatastrophe #climatechange #wildfirescanada pic.twitter.com/xgx8KiTjvV
— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) June 8, 2023
Updated
New York City’s fire department will be distributing N95 masks at multiple locations across all five boroughs, the city has announced.
Each person will be limited to two masks.
.@FDNY Free N-95 Masks: All those in need of a mask can pick one up at the following FDNY locations. Limit is 2 masks per person. For air quality tips & how to stay safe, go to https://t.co/CyQmvPtgj5 pic.twitter.com/EuWFp4kdhR
— NYCEM - Notify NYC (@NotifyNYC) June 8, 2023
In an interview with Fox News, Steve Milloy, a member of then-president Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency transition team, said the wildfire haze in New York City poses “no health risk.”
“There’s EPA research, they’ve done lots of clinical research on asthmatics, on elderly asthmatics, on children, on elderly with heart disease. Not a cough or a wheeze out of any of them,” he said.
Fox guest: There's just no health risk...We have this kind of air in India and China all the time, no public health emergency... this doesn't kill anybody, this doesn't make anybody cough, this is not a health event... particulate matter is just very fine soot, they're innocuous. pic.twitter.com/DB0hDmqRwC
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) June 8, 2023
The clip sparked angry responses from Twitter users who noted that extensive research shows air pollution can be deadly.
“Air pollution – especially fine particulates like in the smoke – is responsible for millions of deaths annually,” Nick Mark, a pulmonologist in Seattle, Washington, tweeted.
Pulmonologist here: this is 100% wrong. The #CanadaWildfires smokes poses substantial health risks.
— Nick Mark MD (@nickmmark) June 8, 2023
Air pollution - especially fine particulates like in the smoke - is responsible for millions of deaths annually.https://t.co/928jdSAaEX https://t.co/0vDwVkJXYN
Steve Milloy serves on the board of the climate-denying, Koch Brothers-backed think tank the Heartland Institute. He previously worked as director of external policy and strategy at Murray Energy Corp, a massive US coal corporation.
Experts told the Guardian that children, people with chronic illnesses, and those of a lower socioeconomic class are especially at risk amid the intense air pollution, and that those who are affected should avoid the outdoors, don masks, and turn on air purifiers to stay safe.
this is one of the most irresponsible segments of disinformation i have ever watched https://t.co/IUIJNjXdaW
— Chris D'Angelo (@c_m_dangelo) June 8, 2023
EPA, meanwhile, is encouraging affected Americans to “protect your health when smoke is in the air”.
.@AIRnow's Fire and Smoke Map continues to provide information about air quality in your community.
— U.S. EPA (@EPA) June 7, 2023
Learn how you can protect your health when smoke is in the air ⬇️ https://t.co/nRlKaljJAG https://t.co/JHvVzzV7JY
A user on TikTok has shared a makeshift air purifier hack in which she tapes four filters together and attaches a box fan pointing upwards.
Shout out to my friend @antoniathegreat for sharing this air purifier hack in the group chat. As MD's air quality levels creep up to the 300s, I know our small air purifiers ain't gonna cut it. I'm making this TODAY. pic.twitter.com/UbPzuaiFHZ
— Naima Cochrane (@naima) June 8, 2023
“I’m in the [Pacific northwest] and typically we have this issue every spring, summer, Cali-Canada fires destroy our air and this is what works for us…
It works for all types of things and…will save your life with really smokey days,” she said.
— Monica Rambeau's Vibranium Twistout (@casualgrace) June 8, 2023
Updated
Joe Biden offers all available firefighting assets to Canada
US president Joe Biden has spoken with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and offered to deploy all available federal firefighting assets.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the White House announced that the Biden administration has offered additional support to respond to the wildfires currently burning across Canada.
It went on to add:
“The President has directed his team to deploy all available Federal firefighting assets that can rapidly assist in suppressing fires impacting Canadian and American communities.
To date, the United States has deployed more than 600 U.S. firefighters and support personnel, and other firefighting assets to respond to the fires.”
Both leaders have agreed to stay in close touch as the situation develops.
Updated
US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has called on agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack to double the amount of people available to fight the effects of Canada’s wildfires and to address air quality risks currently faced by millions of Americans, Reuters reports.
New York City health officials have rolled out a list of safety measures to take as the city remains shrouded in a thick smokey haze.
In addition to urging residents to wear high-quality masks such as N95s or KN95s, health officials are urging residents to keep windows closed, use an air purifier if possible, and if an air conditioner is on, to close to fresh air intake to prevent outdoor air from entering inside homes.
An Air Quality Health Advisory is still in effect in NYC. New Yorkers should continue to limit outdoor activity. If you do go outside, wear a high-quality mask, such as an N95 or KN95. See real-time air quality: https://t.co/VHIYVL0aH4 pic.twitter.com/ywHzRTUOe7
— nychealthy (@nycHealthy) June 8, 2023
As the US north-east grapples with smoke from Canada’s wildfires, here are the latest images sent to us from the newswires:
Toxic smoke could linger for days, officials warn
Toxic smoke from Canadian wildfires could linger over vast swathes of the US for days, officials warned, as millions of Americans remained under air pollution warnings.
Across the eastern US residents were again urged to stay inside and limit or avoid outdoor activities on Thursday, as schools in some cities closed, sporting events were canceled, and air travel was disrupted.
Smoke from wildfires in Canada has been moving south into the US since May. Hundreds of fires are burning in Canada, from the western provinces to Nova Scotia and Quebec in the east, where there are more than 150 active fires in a particularly fierce start to the summer season.
The weather system driving the smoke south “will probably be hanging around at least for the next few days,” Bryan Ramsey, a US National Weather Service meteorologist, told the Associated Press.
“Conditions are likely to remain unhealthy, at least until the wind direction changes or the fires get put out,” Ramsey said.
Caitlin Alicia Marshall, a 21-year-old violin performance student living in New York, told the Guardian:
I was out for two hours in the city on Tuesday and came back home with a very sore throat and itchy eyes.
My boyfriend rushed to buy an air purifier to use at home whilst I taped the windows shut.
The purifier indicated that even the air inside our apartment was dangerously affected. We didn’t leave the apartment on Wednesday
out of fear it will cause us health issues down the line.
Updated
Climate activists to protest at White House under smoky skies
Protesters are set to descend upon the White House on Thursday amid growing anger among climate activists at Joe Biden for allowing a controversial gas pipeline in Appalachia to be fast-tracked.
Several hundred protesters are expected to demand Biden “reclaim his climate legacy” by blocking the Mountain Valley pipeline, a 300-mile pipeline that will bring fracked gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia.
Organizers said they had ordered N95 masks to help protect protesters amid the air quality alerts linked to the Canadian wildfires. “They’ll be risking arrest under skies filled with smoke from wildfires fueled by the growing climate crisis,” said organizer Jamie Henn of Fossil Free Media.
A reporter just asked me if we were going to cancel the big Mountain Valley Pipeline protest at the White House tomorrow because of wildfire smoke.
— Jamie Henn (@jamieclimate) June 7, 2023
Answer: no, this is *exactly* why we have to take these sorts of actions. Join us. https://t.co/VHC7A0m6t0
The Mountain Valley pipeline project has been enmeshed in legal challenges for years due to opposition from grassroots groups and landowners but the deal passed by Congress to raise the US’s debt ceiling.
The expediting of the pipeline provoked outrage from activists as well as some Democratic allies of Biden, with Tim Kaine, the senator from Virginia, complaining that he “strongly opposes” the decision to “green-light this pipeline without normal administrative and judicial review and ignore the voices of Virginians”.
The project will lead to between 6m and 89m tons of extra planet-heating emissions should it go ahead, depending on conflicting estimates as to its impact.
Updated
Norwegian officials say the smoke from Canadian wildfires that has enveloped parts of the US and Canada in a thick haze is expected to pour into Norway.
Atmosphere and climate scientists with the Norwegian Climate and Environmental Research Institute used a forecast model to predict how the smoke would travel through the atmosphere.
The independent research institution says the smoke has moved over Greenland and Iceland since 1 June, and observations in southern Norway have recorded increasing concentrations of aerosolized particles.
A senior researcher says Norwegians might be able to see some haze or smell smoke on Thursday but that the concentration of particles isn’t expected to pose health hazards.
Canada’s ongoing wildfire season is a harbinger of our climate future, experts and officials say.
The fires are a “really clear sign of climate change”, said Mohammadreza Alizadeh, a researcher at McGill University in Montreal, who is also a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Research shows that climate change has already exacerbated wildfires dramatically. A 2021 study supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association found that climate change has been the main driver of the increase in hot, dry fire weather in the western US.
By 2090, global wildfires are expected to increase in intensity by up to 57% thanks to climate change, a United Nations report warned last year.
On air quality maps, purple signifies the worst of it. In reality, it’s a thick, hazardous haze that’s disrupting daily life for millions of people across the US and Canada, blotting out skylines and turning skies orange, the AP writes.
Here’s more:
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. With the weather not expected to shift, this could persist into Thursday and possibly the weekend.
That means at least another day, or more, 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 — all while raising concerns about the health effects of prolonged exposure to such bad air.
We have been asking Guardian readers to tell how they are dealing with the fires in Canada and the ensuing smoke.
Phil Clark, who lives in Barrie, Ontario, wrote in to tell us what the situation was like where he is.
On Wednesday, he wrote: “For the last three days we’ve had a haze (note that these fires are over a thousand kilometres away). Today is the worst day. Though there’s no cloud, the sun is not at all bright.”
FAA pauses flights to Philadelphia airport
The FAA has now also paused flights from the north-east, mid-Atlantic and Ohio going to Philadelphia airport.
The agency cited low visibility for the delay in air traffic.
Updated
A video of the George Washington Bridge connecting New Jersey and New York City this morning gives an idea of how low visibility really is.
Footage of the George Washington Bridge that connects New Jersey and New York City amid smoke from Canada wildfires. pic.twitter.com/J1PMoosdjl
— Ravi Chaturvedi (@Ravi4Bharat) June 8, 2023
People urged to wear masks as air quality alerts across US and Canada continue
Millions of people across North America woke up to orange skies and a smoky haze as air quality alerts continued across the US and Canada.
People were urged to mask up to protect their lungs from breathing in too much polluted air.
New York governor Kathy Hochul tweeted that from Thursday 1m N95 masks would be made available at state facilities.
Tomorrow morning, one million N95 masks will be made available at state facilities.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) June 7, 2023
400,000 will be distributed to New Yorkers at @MTA stations, @PABusTerminal, @NYStateParks & @Javitscenter.
600,000 will be available from @NYSDHSES stockpiles for local governments to pick up.
She also urged people living in the state to remain indoors:
New Yorkers: The best way to stay safe right now is to stay indoors.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) June 7, 2023
We highly recommend outdoor activities be postponed or cancelled as we wait for safer air quality conditions.
If you must be outside for significant periods, wear a high-quality mask to reduce exposure.
Media reports said the smog was expected to spread beyond New York to other east coast areas.
Toxic air was also being reported in Philadelphia and other parts of Pennsylvania. Large swathes of the midwest and the south also faced air quality alerts.
Updated
Hundreds of uncontrolled forest fires have spread across Canada, threatening critical infrastructure and forcing evacuations.
Wildfires are common in the country’s western provinces, but this year flames have rapidly spread towards the east. About 3.8m hectares (9.4m acres) have already burned, according to government ministers.
The wildfires have created a blanket of smoke that has spread across several US cities, including New York, forcing residents to stay indoors.
La Guardia delays flights due to low visibility caused by wildfire smoke
Hello and welcome to our live blog focusing on the wildfires ravaging Canada and the impact smoke from those blazes is having across the northern US.
Forest fires continued to burn across Canada on Thursday as the country endured its worst-ever start to wildfire season, forcing thousands of people from their homes.
In New York, authorities temporarily halted flights from the north-east, Ohio and Mid-Atlantic bound for LaGuardia Airport.
The FAA said on Thursday wildfire smoke from Canada was reducing visibility and impacting US flights.
The agency said it would likely need to take further steps to address traffic into New York City, Washington, Philadelphia and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Updated
