HOUSTON: Smoke from wildfires in Canada reached the US East Coast and Midwest on Wednesday, worsening air quality in New York City. New York City’s pollution level on Wednesday exceeded that of major cities in the world and its air quality was worse than that of India’s capital Delhi, data from IQAR showed.
Smoke blanketed New York City on Wednesday, obscuring the city’s famous skyline. Several weather stations said visibility was less than a mile in most places.
New York City’s air quality on Wednesday was among the highest among all major cities in the world, surpassing even Delhi in terms of air pollution levels, according to ‘IQAR’. In the recently released Global Air Quality Report, India was described as the eighth most polluted country in the world in 2022. Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, and Bangladesh occupied the first five positions on the list respectively.
Meteorologists have predicted smoky skies and extremely poor air quality for the rest of the week in New York City. New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport and New York City’s La Guardia Airport were forced to issue ground stop orders due to reduced visibility from the plume of smoke, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.
A ‘ground stop’ is an air traffic control measure whereby aircraft movement at an airport is either slowed down or stopped. Apart from New York City, the climate of Delaware also saw a significant decline. On Wednesday, the city recorded an air quality index of 199, which is considered unhealthy.
