New York under dire air quality alert amid heavy smoke from raging wildfires in Canada

New York City and large parts of the tri-state area were placed under air quality alerts on Wednesday as wildfires continued to explode across Canada.

The Big Apple was the world’s most polluted major city for a few hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, surpassing Delhi, Baghdad, Doha, Kuwait and Dhaka.

The air quality for New York stood at 174 on Wednesday, a level that is considered unhealthy for everyone as Mayor Eric Adams urged residents to mask-up.

“If you are an older adult or have heart or breathing problems and need to be outside, wear a high-quality mask (eg N95 or KN95),” the office of mayor said in a rare advisory on masking.

“Currently, we are taking precautions out of an abundance of caution to protect New Yorkers’ health until we are able to get a better sense of future air quality reports,” Mr Adams’ office said.

The city also urged New Yorkers to stay indoors when possible as outdoor activities in schools were cancelled.

New York City was experiencing hazy skies and the sun blotted to a deep orange by the smoky conditions on Tuesday.

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After New York, Detroit was the most polluted city in the US, with air quality of 155, making to the top 10 list of IQAir, a Swiss technology company that monitors air quality.

Heavy smoke from Quebec’s wildfires began moving over eastern New York and western New England on Monday evening, prompting health advisories in cities across the northeastern coast.

Satellite images show smoke cover reaching as far as the Carolinas, covering much of the Midwest, Ohio Valley, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic by Tuesday.

The source of the pollution is more than 160 forest fires that have broken out in the province of Quebec with at least 114 raging out of control as officials warned that it’s shaping up to be Canada’s worst fire season ever.

There are more than 400 wildfires across the country as leaders appealed for international help to bolster local fire crews. An additional 200 firefighters are coming from France and the US, and Quebec is also in talks with Costa Rica, Portugal and Chile as it searches for additional resources.

Fires have forced about 10,000 people from their homes in Quebec, with most of those in the northwestern Abitibi region and the eastern Côte-Nord region.

No one has died in the Quebec fires, but crews were forced to pull back from the hamlet of Clova around 200 miles northwest of Montreal.

“Unfortunately, we lost control,” Quebec Premier François Legault told The Associated Press. “We are going to be obliged to let Clova burn.” Authorities said the community’s 36 residents have been evacuated.

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Wet weather in the Atlantic Coast province of Nova Scotia has allowed that province to free up water bombers to dispatch to Quebec, where wildfires flared up this past weekend.

Air quality advisories were in effect for the New York City metro area, along with Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley, Upper Hudson Valley, Adirondacks, Eastern Lake Ontario, and Central Regions.

The alerts also cover northern South Carolina, much of North Carolina, northern Virginia, much of Maryland, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and western New Hampshire.

Officials recommended that individuals limit strenuous outdoor activity to reduce health risks and that extra precautions are taken when it comes to young children and those with preexisting respiratory conditions such as asthma or heart disease.

Climate scientists agree that, although fire is a natural part of some ecosystems, the climate crisis is making wildfires larger, more intense, and more common overall.

With reporting from The Associated Press