As extreme heat fueled wildfires across Canada, smoke drifted into major US cities, turning skylines into murky, almost apocalyptic scenes and prompting urgent warnings for residents to avoid breathing the hazardous air.
By Thursday, more than 850 wildfires were burning across Canada, damaging several communities and forcing evacuations near Lake Superior in Ontario.
While crews in Canada worked through the night to contain the flames, smoke from the fires moved south, triggering a dangerous air-quality crisis across major American cities.
A striking graphic released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed a dense gray plume spreading across the eastern United States on Wednesday afternoon.
The smoke appeared to gather in a vast, ominous swirl over eastern Canada and parts of the US Northeast.
Powerful winds and severe heat helped loft the smoke into the atmosphere. NOAA satellite imagery also showed a band of fast-moving air, known as a jet stream, sweeping across the eastern US and Canada.
Wildfire smoke can be more dangerous than typical air pollution and may hang in the air for weeks. When fires consume vehicles and buildings, the resulting smoke can carry traces of chemicals, metals, plastics and other synthetic materials.
New York City took on the look of a Gotham nightmare on Thursday, with oppressive heat, a heavy smoke-filled haze and air quality readings reaching “very unhealthy” levels.
A mesmerizing graphic from the NOAA revealed the path of smoke from ravaging wildfires in Canada
Multiple American cities, including New York, suffered extremely poor air quality ratings on Thursday
The jet stream can be seen circling across Northeast America and Canada, causing unhealthy conditions for humans
Photos of New Yorkers revealed an orange haze as a backdrop of morning commuters and community basketball players.
Some were even seen wearing N95 masks as officials warned that even those who do not have respiratory issues may be at risk of adverse health effects.
Detroit was also engulfed in smoke, as the city ranked among the cities with the worst air quality in the world, alongside Minneapolis and Chicago.
The city had a US Air Quality Index (AQI) of 566, making it the most polluted major city in the world at the time of the reading.
Locals reported it smelling like ‘a bonfire that you can’t escape,’ saying the smoke is seeping into buildings. Minneapolis ranked second with an AQI of 289, followed by Chicago at 259.
Readings between 201 and 300 are classified as ‘very unhealthy,’ with health officials warning that all residents could experience adverse effects from prolonged exposure.
Strong winds from the fires were pushed across the Great Lakes. Satellite imagery from the NOAA revealed large gray puffs of smoke in the atmosphere above Minnesota and Michigan.
Strong winds can be seen in satellite imagery swirling down the northern American states and circling across Canada
The smoke created an orangey backdrop for New Yorkers as basketball players were seen amid the haze
New Yorkers were seen in N95 masks during their commutes during the health advisory
Michigan is under a statewide air quality alert after plumes spread through the Upper Peninsula and continued sinking south toward the Indiana border.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said dense smoke had already produced hourly readings that surpassed previous records in the Twin Cities, while trace amounts of ash had been observed.
In northern Illinois, the state Environmental Protection Agency declared a red air pollution action day for Rockford and all six Chicago-area forecast zones.
‘It’s basically a river of smoke pouring into the Midwest right now,’ Emily Fischer, an atmospheric chemist and professor at Colorado State University, told Reuters.
Pennsylvania was also placed under a statewide Code Red alert, unhealthy for everyone, on Thursday as smoke from Ontario and Minnesota moved into the state from north to south.
Detroit was also engulfed in a cloudy haze and residents were advised to be aware of the adverse health effects
The Bronx was also overtaken by an eerie orange haze. Smoke from wildfires is more dangerous than polluted air due to the dangerous materials it carries
Air quality indexes hit dangerous levels in New York, Detroit and Minneapolis among others
Wildfires are continuing to ravage parts of Canada. A highway in Ontario engulfed in an orange haze is seen above
Clouds of hot, rising smoke can be seen on satellite imagery, looming over Canada and the Great Lakes region on Tuesday.
The dangerous smoke and disastrous flames have continued to ravage parts of Canada.
Firefighters are working overtime to starve the flames. Randy Schroeder, a fire chief in the western province of Alberta, told the New York Times that the wildfires, coupled with the intense heatwave, were ‘relentless.’
‘The fires grow and last a lot longer than they would have normally done in the same fuel, in the same period of time, years ago,’ he added.
