Massive wildfires in Manitoba, Canada, are producing ash and smoke, leading to air quality warnings for tens of millions in the United States and Canada. States like New York, Michigan, and Oklahoma are impacted by "moderate" air pollution levels, posing health risks, particularly to sensitive groups. Areas around major Texas cities are at risk of "unhealthy" air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency's air quality index indicates that many residents should remain indoors until smoke clears, due to potential negative health effects.
According to AirNow - which publishes a real-time, color-coded air quality map based on data from dozens of state, local, and federal agencies in the US - parts of New York City, Detroit, and Oklahoma City are currently impacted by "moderate" air pollution.
Ppeople who live in eight American states (and four Canadian provinces) are now under air pollution warning - and as an air quality map shows, the regions impacted have tens of millions of residents.
With more than six million people living in just those four cities alone and an additional 9.5 million in NYC, OKC, and Detroit, that means that untold millions of people are experiencing negative enough air quality.
The Environmental Protection Agency explains that the 500-point, color-coded AQI legend used by US-based agencies is graded based on how many people are affected by poor air quality.
Collection
[
|
...
]