Canadian wildfire smoke triggers hazardous air quality alerts, grounds airplanes in U.S.: Live updates - Yahoo News

Canadian wildfire smoke triggers 'hazardous' air quality alerts, grounds airplanes in U.S.: Live updates

Smoke from Canadian wildfires triggered air quality alerts in more than a dozen U.S. states Wednesday, with health officials warning people, especially those in sensitive groups, such as children, the elderly or with respiratory conditions, to limit their time outdoors or stay inside.

In New York City, the thick haze forced public schools to cancel outdoor activities, and the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at LaGuardia due to low visibility.

Yahoo News is providing live updates on the wildfire smoke and its impacts. Follow along in the live blog below.
The latest on the wildfire smoke impacting the U.S.
• Smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to blanket a large swath of the U.S.
• Air quality alerts have been issued in 15 states from Vermont to South Carolina.
• Health officials are urging people to limit their exposure and remain indoors.
• New York City public schools canceled outdoor activities due to hazardous air quality, and the FAA issued a temporary ground stop at LaGuardia Airport due to poor visibility.
• You can look up the current air quality where you live here >>>
New York's air quality continues to worsen
As of 3pm EDT on Wednesday the air quality index in New York City had climbed to 392, worse than the record-setting "hazardous" measurement of 324 reported just an hour earlier.
A person walks dogs as smoke from wildfires in Canada cause hazy conditions in New York City on June 7, 2023. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
Air quality in New York now considered 'hazardous'
Screenshot via AirNow.gov
As of 2pm EDT on Wednesday, the air quality index in New York City had reached 324, according to
AirNow.gov, a level deemed "hazardous." Per the New York Times, it was the worst air quality measurement since the Environmental Protection Agency first started recording such numbers in 1999.
Is poor air quality behind your headache or migraine?
A man stands before the New York city skyline and east river shrouded in smoke, in Brooklyn on June 6, 2023. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, head pain is an expected symptom of wildfire smoke. The conditions can also cause sinus pain and congestion, which can lead to the feeling of a headache.
A study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which analyzed emergency department visits during wildfires in California, found that the smoke’s particulate matter (called PM 2.5) is associated with tension headaches," HuffPost reported.
"There is less known about how smoke affects migraines, but research suggests that inflammation can play a role in triggering them. The NIH study did not find that migraines or cluster headaches were associated with increased wildfire smoke. That said, people are reporting migraine episodes now ― coincidentally, when the air quality is poor."
Read more on Yahoo News:
Is poor air quality behind your headache or migraine, via HuffPost
Photos of Manhattan from downtown Brooklyn on a normal day (left) and midday Wednesday (right). (Malcom Jones)
People attend a morning yoga class on The Edge observation deck as a haze caused by smoke from wildfires burning in Canada hangs over Manhattan Wednesday. (Justin Lane/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
FAA ends ground stop at LaGuardia, major delays continue
Heavy smoke shrouds the Chrysler Building in a view looking northeast from the Empire State Building as the sun sets on June 6, 2023, in New York City. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
The Federal Aviation Administration has ended its ground stop at LaGuardia Airport in New York City and is now reporting a ground delay at the airport, with arrival delays averaging 119 minutes due to low visibility. The FAA is also reporting an average departure delay of 30 minutes and climbing out of LaGuardia.
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What people impacted by the wildfire smoke are experiencing
A look at the Manhattan Bridge in New York City on Wednesday afternoon. (Barbara Kempe/Yahoo News)
With millions of people living under the pall of smoke from Canadian wildfires, Yahoo News reached out to staff members to share their real-time experiences. Here’s a sampling of how they responded:
“The sky outside my apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y., looks like my grandfather’s cigarette-stained living room.” —Breaking News Editor Nicole Darrah
“My entire apartment smells like a campfire. Outside, I can hear my neighbor yelling from her window, telling teenagers from a nearby high school to go inside.” —Executive Producer Sam Mathews
"If you lived in New York during 9/11 and its immediate aftermath, the smoke and smell engulfing the city are bringing back some memories." —Senior Editor Will Rahn
“Every time I look out my window the view looks more and more apocalyptic. My eyes are itching and I'm starting to get a headache, even with an air purifier on. I'm dreading having to take my dog out later.” —Reporter/Editor Caitlin Dickson
“We live in Beacon on the Hudson River, and we can barely see the other side now with it getting smokier as the day goes on. Our neighbors are all walking by with N95 masks.” —Associate Manager of Programming Lindsay Meeks
“Having never experienced this before, I woke up thinking the worst of the haze was behind us. But with each passing hour, the visibility only gets worse and more daunting. I thought living higher up in a building would allow me to momentarily escape reality, but instead it feels like it's closing in all around me." —National Reporter Marquise Francis
“I'm currently in Mattituck, on Long Island, where the AQI is slightly lower than in NYC, 133 versus 162. Nonetheless, I have a headache and mild nausea. The forecast says it's sunny today, but the sky looks completely overcast.” —Senior Editor Ben Adler
Air quality this week gives U.S. a glimpse of the world's air pollution
The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol shrouded in smoke from Canada wildfires in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
While millions in the eastern U.S. are currently grappling with smokey haze and dangerous air quality, for many people in urban areas around the world this is just business as usual.
“Cities across Asia, Africa and Latin America have been so polluted for so long that air-quality readings like the ones expected across parts of New York state on Wednesday — which is expected to pose risks for people with respiratory problems — would not be seen as particular cause for alarm,” the New York Times reported.
“Maybe foreigners can feel it, but for me it’s just the normal air I breathe every day,” Paiboon Kaewklangrong, a taxi driver in Bangkok, told the New York Times on Wednesday. “Polluted, hot, dusty. But it is what it is.”
Read more on Yahoo News:
Air quality this week gives U.S. a glimpse of the world’s air pollution, via the New York Times