New York, Toronto, Montreal, and Washington D.C have topped the global pollution rankings, according to a list compiled by IQAir. The heavy concentration of particulate matter from wildfires in Canada has led to choking smog spreading to major American cities.
More than 500 fires have been burning across Canadian provinces, causing an orange-brown haze that has affected eastern Canada and the US Midwest and Northeast.
As a result of the smog, public health officials have distributed masks and advised people to stay indoors.
Over 120 million Americans, approximately a third of the population, were living under some form of air quality alert as of Friday. New York ranked as the city with the worst air quality in the world, scoring 161 on IQAir’s index, indicating “unhealthy” air. Toronto, Montreal, Washington DC and Chicago followed closely in second, third, fourth, and fifth place.
IQAir categorizes air quality between 100 and 150 as “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
Residents of Ontario in Canada and the Ohio River Valley in the US, which includes parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee, have reported smelling burning plastic in the air. This occurrence happens when smoke lingers for an extended period, causing the sun’s radiation to break it down and release toxic benzene and formaldehyde.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the 2023 wildfire season as “unprecedented” and the worst on record. While climate change has been blamed by Trudeau for the fires, critics argue that poor forest management and a lack of controlled burns by authorities are the underlying causes of these devastating blazes.
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