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New York was eerily orange on Wednesday as smoke shrouded the city. The haze drifted in from wildfires raging in Quebec, some 500 miles away, wreaking havoc on air quality across the Northeast US.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The smoke was so thick, New York City briefly ranked<\/a> as the most polluted city in the world. The Environmental Protection Agency issued its highest warning for pollution, a \u201cCode Maroon\u201d for hazardous air quality. The pollution was record-shattering<\/a> on Wednesday, with an air quality index<\/a> score of 392 around 4PM ET for fine particles beating a record of 174 set a day earlier (according to the EPA\u2019s records, which started in 1999, The New York Times<\/em> reports).\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fine particle pollution is especially worrying because it\u2019s small enough to enter the lungs and can even make its way into the bloodstream. Moreover, particles in smoke have been found to be up to 10 times more harmful<\/a> to human health than pollution from other sources like vehicles and factories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales \/ The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Officials advised people to stay indoors, emptying many streets in a way the city hadn\u2019t seen since the height of the covid-19 pandemic. Schools<\/a> called off field trips and other outdoor activities. The Federal Aviation Administration delayed flights<\/a> due to poor visibility. New York City\u2019s skyline, obscured by smoke, was barely recognizable via EarthCam<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Verge<\/em> snapped some photos of the apocalyptic scene in the Big Apple \u2014 from amber skies to desolate streets. To stay updated, you can follow the EPA\u2019s air quality monitoring tool AirNow<\/a>. Its forecast for Thursday is still bad \u2014 not quite a Code Maroon (hopefully) but a Code Red for \u201cunhealthy\u201d air.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n