New York was Most Polluted Major City in the World on Tuesday. Here’s Why

New York was the most polluted major city in the world on Tuesday, as smoke from the intense wildfires in Canada travelled in the US and blanketed the city in haze.

The pollution level in New York was marked under “unhealthy” category and the AQI levels were higher than in New Delhi and Baghdad at 1:25 am (New York time), a report in Bloomberg quoted IQAir as saying.

The Air Quality Index for New York hit 222 on its 0-500 scale at 01:05 am on Tuesday, putting the air in the “very unhealthy” category. The air quality is expected to deteriorate on Wednesday noon.

Canada is dealing with a series of intense wildfires that have spread from the western provinces to Quebec, with hundreds of forest fires burning.

Several North American cities in the Canada and the US are afflicted by smoke from the unprecedented wildfires.

Wildfire smoke on Tuesday strangled Ottawa, prompting severe air quality alerts, and darkened skies above Montreal and Toronto.

Meanwhile, in the US, the country’s Environmental Protection Agency issued a poor air quality alert for New England, a day after parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota received a similar advisory. Cities like Detroit and New York are also severely affected.

In New York, the visibility was reduced as the skyline was blocked and irritating throats. US authorities issued air quality alerts. Hazy conditions and smoke from the wildfires were reported across the Great Lakes region from Cleveland to Buffalo.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that an Air Quality Health Advisory had been issued for all five boroughs, and while conditions were expected to improve through Wednesday morning, they were predicted to worsen again later in the day.

“We are taking precautions out of an abundance of caution to protect New Yorkers’ health until we are able to get a better sense of future air quality reports. We recommend all New Yorkers limit outdoor activity to the greatest extent possible,” Eric Adams said in a statement.

Last week, US officials as far south as Maryland, Baltimore, Virginia and Pennsylvania reported being impacted by the wildfires, according to Associated Press.