(Washington) The northeastern United States is breathing again: Smoke from the fires in Canada, which prompted air pollution alerts for more than 100 million Americans this week, has slowly subsided. little dissipated on Friday.
In both New York and Washington, the air quality is now at a “moderate” level (yellow), according to the index of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
In the American capital, the sky is blue again, but the children of the public schools of the city still cannot spend their recess outside, as a precaution. In New York, schoolchildren in public establishments take their lessons remotely on Friday, a measure announced the day before.
Fine particulate matter concentrations are 10 to 20 times lower Friday morning in Washington compared to the same time the previous day, said Ryan Stauffer, a NASA air pollution scientist.
The improvement is particularly linked to the direction of the winds having changed in Quebec, where the fires are raging, he explained. These no longer push smoke directly south. In addition, precipitation tended to limit the intensity of the fires, and therefore the arrival of additional smoke. The main cloud that affected the country is now above the Atlantic Ocean, said Ryan Stauffer.
This episode of air pollution, rare and particularly intense on Wednesday and Thursday, disrupted the lives of millions of Americans. Flights were delayed at many airports due to reduced visibility, and masks had reappeared on the streets. The concern mainly concerned the health of the most fragile (elderly people, asthmatics, children, etc.).
The head of the UN, environmental organizations as well as American politicians stressed this week the need to combat climate change, which exacerbates the risk of fires.