Air quality map: How much is smoke affecting your town?
Most of Massachusetts had air quality that was either moderate or unhealthy for sensitive groups, but smoke from Canadian wildfires made air quality in some parts of New England very unhealthy
New York City continues to have some of the worst air quality in the world as smoke from wildfires in Canada moves across the continent.
Wildfires burning in Canada are sending plumes of smoke south, dramatically worsening the air quality for millions of people this week, including across New England
The sun is shrouded as it rises in a hazy, smoky sky behind the Empire State Building, One Vanderbilt and the Chrysler Building in New York City, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey, June 6, 2023.
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 7: A general view of hazy conditions resulting from Canadian wildfires at Yankee Stadium before the game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees on June 7, 2023, in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images)
JERSEY CITY, NJ – JUNE 7: Smoke shrouds the skyline of Brooklyn behind the Statue of Liberty as the sun rises in New York City on June 7, 2023, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 6: Heavy smoke shrouds buildings around Times Square in a view looking north from the Empire State Building as the sun sets on June 6, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, US – JUNE 06: The Downtown Manhattan skyline stands shrouded in a reddish haze as a result of Canadian wildfires on June 06, 2023 in New York City. Over 100 wildfires are burning in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and Quebec resulting in air quality health alerts for the Adirondacks, Eastern Lake Ontario, Central New York and Western New York. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
JERSEY CITY, NJ – JUNE 7: Smoke continues to shroud the sun as it rises behind the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City on June 7, 2023, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 06: People walk along the Brooklyn Promenade as a reddish haze enshrouds the Manhattan skyline as a result of Canadian wildfires on June 06, 2023 in New York City. Over 100 wildfires are burning in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and Quebec resulting in air quality health alerts for the Adirondacks, Eastern Lake Ontario, Central New York and Western New York. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, US – JUNE 06: The Downtown Manhattan skyline stands shrouded in a reddish haze as a result of Canadian wildfires on June 06, 2023 in New York City. Over 100 wildfires are burning in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and Quebec resulting in air quality health alerts for the Adirondacks, Eastern Lake Ontario, Central New York and Western New York. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
WEST NEW YORK, NJ – JUNE 7: Smoke continues to shroud the sun as it rises behind the skyline of Manhattan in New York City on June 7, 2023, as seen from West New York , New Jersey. (Photo by Kena Betancur/VIEWpress/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, US – JUNE 06: The Downtown Manhattan skyline stands shrouded in a reddish haze as a result of Canadian wildfires on June 06, 2023 in New York City. Over 100 wildfires are burning in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and Quebec resulting in air quality health alerts for the Adirondacks, Eastern Lake Ontario, Central New York and Western New York. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The map below from the EPA shows current air quality conditions — on Wednesday afternoon, most of Massachusetts had air quality that was either moderate (in yellow) or unhealthy for sensitive groups (orange).
Most of Connecticut had unhealthy or very unhealthy air quality, though it didn't reach the hazardous distinction that New York City was dealing with. Northern New England, except for western Vermont, had good air quality.
"It's obviously concerning," said Dr. Jennifer Stowell from Boston University's School of Public Health. "The Northeast isn't used to being impacted by wildfire smoke to any significant degree."
Stowell, who studies the air quality from wildfires, says the particles in the skies are especially harmful for those with lung disease.
"Those particles are small enough to get down into the alveoli in our lungs and can start causing a lot of damage there," said Stowell. "Our bodies react with a lot of inflammation, which can harm the lungs."
Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights arriving to LaGuardia and Newark airports on Wednesday due to low visibility concerns.
"This is a climate change story," said Professor Juliette Rooney-Varga, the director of the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative.
She says the harmful impacts of wildfires will continue to grow unless the climate is stabilized and dangerous emissions are reduced substantially.
"The kinds of conditions that favor those wildfires are becoming more likely in a warming world," said Rooney-Varga. "Dry and windy conditions. We're seeing more intense droughts that create those dry and windy conditions, dry soil, dry air."
In the Boston area, a breeze Wednesday afternoon should improve the air quality.
Today: Sun & building clouds, fresh breeze, chance shower. Highs 65-70°. Overnight Tonight: Variable clouds. Lows around 50°. Thursday: Mostly cloudy with developing scattered midday/PM showers. Highs in the 60s.
Both the surface wind and the steering wind aloft driving the plumes of smoke are directly linked to a large, very slow storm that continues to be stalled over Nova Scotia. As bundles of energy wrap around the storm’s counter-clockwise flow of air, dropping south over New England, rounds of clouds and showers blossom in that atmospheric energy, which is why our First Alert Team expects morning sprinkles and afternoon scattered showers to continue as the theme Wednesday through Friday.
