New York choking on smoke. Canadian forests on fire
It was difficult to breathe in New York on 6 June. This is the result of the drought in North America and extreme uncontrolled fires associated with it.
On 6 June, the air in New York was the most polluted in the world. Social media was flooded with photographs of the city that looked like those from New Delhi or Krakow before the coal ban. The Statue of Liberty against the grey-orange glow looked gloomy and dystopian.
The reason why not only New York, but also Toronto and Ottawa are covered in thick smoke is due to forest fires in the Canadian territory. As Reuters reports, the air in many parts of northeastern America is an immediate health hazard. In Canada, thousands of people have had to be evacuated from fire-prone areas.
Forests in western Canada are also burning, totalling more than 200 fires. "Wildfires", or uncontrolled summer fires, have been happening in North America for a long time. However, not on this scale and not this early in the year.
According to bbc.com, 3.3 million hectares of forest have already burned, which is 12 times the annual fire average of the last 10 years. Summer has not yet begun in the northern hemisphere. The climate crisis is increasing the extent and frequency of all extreme weather events, such as droughts, hurricanes and floods.
