WATCH: New York ‘Looks Like Mars’ as Smoke From Canada Fires Descends on City
Smoke from Canadian wildfires had Fox News hosts exclaiming that the orange hue descending on New York “looks like Mars.”
The smoky haze blanketed a good portion of the East Coast of the United States, parts of the Midwest, and as far south as Georgia.
An atmospheric scientist explained that the sky appears orange because only longer wavelengths of light penetrate the smoke.
“Any more smoke and there’s no skyline,” read a tweet from author Ian Bremmer.
NBC reporter Ben Collins tweeted a pictured of darkened skies near Radio City Music Hall, with the caption: “It’s 2 p.m.”
“We were talking about Binghamton, New York, earlier, and a meteorologist there is describing the city, what looks like Mars and smells like cigars,” Said America Reports anchor Sandra Smith. “The air quality is expected to worsen and the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, is warning residents that this, the air quality, is going to continue to worsen. She’s calling it an emergency crisis, her words. She’s warning this is going to last several days and ‘People have to prepare for this over the long haul.'”
According to the Air Quality Index, air ranging from 110-150 is considered “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.” Fox reported that parts of New York State are measuring as high as 438; New York City is at 377 — the worst in that city’s recorded history.
“That’s the kind of thing where it can literally, it could provoke an asthma attack just by being there for a few minutes,” said Dr. Marc Siegel, professor with NYU.
Siegel said the toxins in the air are “10 times worse than combustion. In other words, if you filled this with air pollution, this is 10 times worse,” Dr. Siegel said. “And the biggest problem is particulate matter, like little, tiny particles that are very, very small.”
Dr. Siegel said that N95 respirator masks are the only ones that will stop most of the particles.
“But the regular masks, the cloth masks, the surgical masks, are not going to do anything, and we’re talking about smoke, we’re talking about hydrocarbons, we’re talking about carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide. The biggest problem is particulate matter.
“People with asthma, people with underlying respiratory problems, also people with heart problems,” are urged to stay indoors and limit travel, Dr. Seagal said.
The National Weather Service in New York tweeted, “Check out this almost unbelievable time-lapse of wildfire smoke consuming the World Trade Center and the New York City skyline. Those vulnerable to poor air quality, including seniors and young children, should limit time outdoors if possible.”
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) blamed the disaster on climate change, tweeting, “This smoke and smog over NY and the rest of the northeast is a warning that we have a lot of work to do to reverse the destruction of climate change. We passed the Inflation Reduction Act to put us on track to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030. But we must do more.”
The hazy conditions caused flight disruptions out of La Guardia Airport. Officials say it could be a few more days before the air clears.
Watch the Fox News clip above.
