Forest fires in Canada have brought heavy smoke as far as New York

 Since the beginning of June 2023, forest fires in Canada have caused unrest and chaos, both locally and in much larger areas. The smoke from these fires spread south, reaching as far away as New York City, affecting air quality and affecting residents' daily lives.

The fires started on June 2 in central Canada, in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and were caused by lightning strikes. Since then, a total of 211 fires have been reported, of which 145 were considered uncontrollable. A total of 40,000 hectares of forest burned and 10,000 residents of coastal Quebec were evacuated.

The smoke from these fires caused serious air quality problems in both Canada and the United States. In Ottawa, Kingston and Belleville, air quality reached the highest level on Environment Canada's Air Quality Index, the worst in Ontario. Similar problems affected much of southern Ontario and New York, where smog blanketed the city in the early hours of Tuesday, June 6.

This phenomenon had a serious impact on New York, where air quality deteriorated significantly. The influx of smoke from the Canadian forest fires has put New York City among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. As a result of poor air quality, residents were advised to stay indoors, and hundreds of flights in the New York City area were delayed. Even baseball games like the Yankees-White Sox game have been postponed due to poor air quality.

Currently, work is underway to control the situation and fight the fires. However, it is still unclear when the situation will return to normal and what the long-term effects of these fires will be.