Pollution alert in New York, reached by smoke from the west

New York and parts of the eastern United States and Canada were blanketed in a smoky gray haze on Tuesday, July 20, caused by fires in the western United States and Canada.

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The environmental protection services of the State of New York have issued an air quality alert for the whole day, which is systematic whenever fine particle concentration levels greater than 35 are expected. micrograms per cubic meter. According to a specialist in these services, it is not uncommon for smoke from fires from the west to reach the New York area, but they usually remain high enough in the atmosphere not to affect the quality of the air. air. The smoke is lower than usual this time around, he said. This phenomenon was to disappear on Wednesday, however, with the expected arrival of a cold front in the New York region, according to a spokesperson for the US national weather service, the National Weather Service.

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Several large fires have ravaged the western United States in recent days - notably in California, Nevada and Oregon, where the dangerous “Bootleg Fire” is raging - even though the fire season has only just begun.

In Canada, more than 2,000 people have been evacuated in recent days in the province of Ontario, the most populous in the country, and more than 200 fires were active in this province and that, neighboring Manitoba, according to figures from the authorities. Tuesday.