Noxious smoke eases over US but wildfires still major threat in Canada – live

More than 420 wildfires have erupted across Canada from the province of British Columbia in the west to Nova Scotia in the east.

Unlike previous years, this wildfire season got off to an extremely hot and dry start amid severe droughts across the country.

My colleague Ariana Baio has more.

The index rates how clean or polluted the air is each day. The EPA uses this measure to keep tabs on five kinds of air pollutants. The main concern from the wildfire smoke is fine particle pollution, or PM2.5.

These particles are tiny enough to get deep into the lungs. They can cause short-term problems like coughing and itchy eyes, and in the long run, can affect the lungs and heart.

The index runs from zero to 500. The higher the number, the worse the air quality. That range is broken down into six color-coded categories. Green or yellow — in the zero to 100 range — the air is pretty clear.

Once it gets up to orange, the air quality could be a concern for sensitive groups like kids, older adults or those with health conditions.

In the red and purple zones, the air quality is considered unhealthy for everyone. And once it gets to maroon — at 301 or above — pollution levels are hazardous.

Live racing will resume at Belmont Park on Friday following significant improvement in air quality conditions in the state, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced.

Both Belmont and Saratoga reopened for training Friday morning, and the 11-card race will start at 12:50pm. The NYRA said in a statement that it will actively monitor air quality conditions and forecasts to ensure the environment remains safe for racing participants and fans ahead of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.

Racing at Belmont Park was canceled on Thursday due to poor air quality from wildfires in Canada.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul had warned that the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the Triple Crown, could be affected if conditions don’t improve by Saturday.

New York Racing Association vice president of communications Patrick McKenna said in a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday that state officials and the NYRA consulted on how to proceed going forward in “our shared efforts to provide the safest possible environment for training and racing thoroughbred horses.”

McKenna had said his group remained “optimistic that conditions will allow for the resumption of training and racing on Friday in advance of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.”

The mayors of major North American cities badly affected by wildfire smoke pollution this week issued a statement on Friday.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Mayor Valérie Plante of Montréal, Interim Mayor Jennifer McKelvie of Toronto, Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, DC, and Mayor Jim Kenney of Philadelphia released the remarks via C40 Cities – a global network of nearly 100 mayors “that are taking urgent action to confront the climate crisis”.

“As Mayors of impacted cities, we are deeply concerned about the current air quality crisis in east coast US and Canadian cities, caused by the devastating wildfires in Canada,” the statement read.

“As we work to respond to the immediate health concerns in our communities, this alarming episode serves as a stark reminder of the harmful impacts that the climate crisis is having on cities around the world.

“Our mission is clear: Without drastically reducing fossil fuel use in order to at least halve our emissions by 2030 we will likely be condemning ourselves to a future filled with weeks like these in cities across the world. Achieving this goal will take all hands on deck. We stand ready to address this climate and health emergency and call on all governments, companies, and residents to act with us.”

Wildfire smoke is drifting across the Atlantic Ocean and will spread across Europe in the coming days, according to scientists at the Climate and Environmental Research Institute, NILU, in Norway.

The smoke arrived in Norway on Friday after moving across Greenland and Iceland over the past week.

“We may be able to see some haze or smell smoke”, said NILU senior scientist Nikolaos Evangeliou.

“However, we do not believe that the number of particles in the air here in Norway will be large enough to be harmful to our health.”

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announced on Thursday that the bloc would send firefighters to support Canada in fighting its huge wildfires.

France, Portugal and Spain were offering an initial 280 firefighters and more would be forthcoming, she tweeted.

“Canada has requested support from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism – and we are responding promptly,” she said.