Canada wildfires smoke: climate change ‘accelerated conditions’, says New York mayor as Canada battles more than 400 blazes – live | Wildfires

Another expert, Marshall Burke, associate professor of earth system science at Stanford University, has tweeted a chart putting into context how the current smoke event is bigger in scale than anything else in the last two decades in the city.

It is slightly past 3:15pm in New York where the yellow skies are still shrouded in a smokey haze. Here is where things currently stand:

• Hundreds of firefighters are currently fighting forest wildfires in Canada with more to join from the Canadian army, according to Quebec premier Francois Legault. With hundreds of wildfires spreading across multiple regions in Canada, Quebec is currently one of the worst affected regions. According to Reuters, Canada’s second-most populous province has experienced four times its 10-year average of wildfires this year alone.

• New York’s LaGuardia airport lifted a temporary hold on flights early on Wednesday afternoon, after grounding jets because of the low visibility a few hours earlier. Even though skies did not seem to be clearing over the city, the Federal Aviation Authority, with smoke and haze currently shrouding multiple states, a so-called “ground stop” at the airport was lifted.

• With New York City being ranked briefly this morning as the city with the world’s worst air pollution, mayor Eric Adams warned that climate change has accelerated the conditions surrounding the smokey haze that has shrouded the city. “While this may be the first time we’ve experienced something like this on this magnitude…it is not the last. Climate change accelerated these conditions,” he said.

• On Wednesday, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau praised the “extreme modesty of heroes” as fire crews across the country grappled with more than 400 blazes, 239 of which are considered out of control. “Firefighters are stepping up first responders are stepping up in harrowing situations to save their fellow citizens,” said Trudeau. “I think we all need to be taking time to recognize the first responders in our communities.”

• Tens of millions of Americans are currently under air quality alerts as smoke from wildfires spreading through Canada drift southward across east coast states. Multiple states across the east coast including New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut have issued air quality alerts. The alerts come as a result of smoke from hundreds of wildfires that have been burning in Canada as early as May.

Climate crisis has already exacerbated wildfires dramatically, research shows

A 2021 study supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association found that climate change has been the main driver of the increase in hot, dry fire weather in the western US.

By 2090, global wildfires are expected to increase in intensity by up to 57% thanks to climate change, a United Nations report warned last year.

Canada is on track to experience its most severe wildfire season on record, national officials said this week. It’s part of a trend experts say will intensify as climate change makes hotter, drier weather and longer fire seasons more common.

More than 400 blazes were burning across Canada on Wednesday, following an unprecedentedly intense beginning to the fire season. Hot and dry conditions are expected to persist through to the end of the season.

“The ongoing wildfires remind us that carbon pollution carries a cost on our society, as it accelerates climate change,” Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, tweeted on Wednesday.

Some US leaders have also been making that link.

Hundreds of firefighters are currently fighting forest wildfires in Canada with more to join from the Canadian army, according to Quebec premier Francois Legault.

With hundreds of wildfires spreading across multiple regions in Canada, Quebec is currently one of the worst affected regions. According to Reuters, Canada’s second-most populous province has experienced four times its 10-year average of wildfires this year alone.

“Right now, with the manpower we have, we can fight about 40 fires at the same time. But we have 150 fires so we have to make sure that we focus where the problems are the more urgent,” Legault said, Reuters reports.

Currently, 520 firefighters are fighting the fires and an additional 150 are set to join from the Canadian army. Legault said he hoped an additional 500 firefighters would arrive in the coming days from the New Brunswick province, as well as from France, the United States, Portugal, Spain, and Mexico.

New York’s LaGuardia airport lifted a temporary hold on flights early on Wednesday afternoon, after grounding jets because of the low visibility a few hours earlier.

Even though skies did not seem to be clearing over the city, the Federal Aviation Authority, with smoke and haze currently shrouding multiple states, a so-called “ground stop” at the airport was lifted.

Earlier the FAA had warned that the stop “could impact travel through the airports” as flights out of LaGuardia airport were grounded and flights were slowed into and out of Newark Airport in New Jersey.

In a video released on Twitter, the FAA’s national traffic management officer said, “Today we’re dealing with some smoke and haze in the northeast.”

He went on to add, “There are some fires in Canada that have been producing some smoke, due to the wind patterns it is now impacting the northeast of the U.S. so from Boston, the NY metro area, Philadelphia and the DC metro area — are all experiencing some smoke that could impact travel through the airports.”

With New York City being ranked briefly this morning as the city with the world’s worst air pollution, mayor Eric Adams warned that climate change has accelerated the conditions surrounding the smokey haze that has shrouded the city.

“While this may be the first time we’ve experienced something like this on this magnitude…it is not the last. Climate change accelerated these conditions.”

Adams went on to urge for more action towards addressing climate change issues, saying:

“New York City is clearly a national leader on public health and climate action and these dangerous air quality conditions are clearly an urgent reminder that we must act now to protect our city, our environment and the future of our children.”

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and echoed similar sentiments towards climate change on Wednesday, tweeting:

“Right now, 98 MILLION people on the East Coast are under air quality alerts from Canadian fires and, last night, NYC had the worst air quality in the world. Climate change makes wildfires more frequent and widespread. If we do nothing, this is our new reality. It’s time to act.”

Meanwhile, during a press briefing this afternoon, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that “climate change [is] a top priority” as tens of millions of Americans remain under air quality alerts.

On Wednesday, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau praised the “extreme modesty of heroes” as fire crews across the country grappled with more than 400 blazes, 239 of which are considered out of control.

“Firefighters are stepping up first responders are stepping up in harrowing situations to save their fellow citizens,” said Trudeau. “I think we all need to be taking time to recognize the first responders in our communities.”

Trudeau acknowledged air quality warnings across the country that have called for vulnerable people to remain indoors. Outdoor school events have been canceled and in eastern Canadian cities, students have been kept inside.

More than 100 firefighters are set to arrive from France on Thursday to assist crews in Quebec. Already, there are nearly 1,000 international firefighters helping Canadian crews, coming from the US, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. “It’s all hands on deck,” said public safety minister Bill Blair.

Already, 2,293 wildfires have burned in Canada this season, torching approximately 3.8 million hectares of land, well above the 10-year average of 1,624 fires and 254,429 hectares burned.

An estimated 20,180 people remain evacuated from their homes and communities.