Closing Summary
It is nearly 6pm in New York City where the skies have been shrouded in a thick layer of yellow smokey haze all day. As we wrap up the blog, here is a look at the day’s key events:
Tonight’s baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox has been postponed due to the poor air quality across New York City.
The air quality health advisory notice in New York has been extended until 11:59pm Thursday.Mayor Eric Adams announced the extension on Wednesday, saying: “We’re in the worst of the conditions but the Air Quality Health Advisory has been extended until 11:59 pm Thursday — which our teams have been anticipating.”
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres tweeted a photo of his office view in New York City on Wednesday which depicted the skies outside being shrouded in a grayish-smoke. “With global temperatures on the rise, the need to urgently reduce wildfire risk is critical,” Guterres tweeted.
A football match between the New Jersey-New York Gotham and Orlando Pride at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey has been postponed. In a statement posted on Instagram, the National Women’s Soccer League wrote: “Due to poor air quality conditions in the New York metropolitan area, tonight’s match between NJ/NY Gotham FC and the Orlando Pride at Red Bull Arena has been postponed.”
English actress Jodie Comer stopped the matinee show of Broadway’s Prima Facie on Wednesday as a result of poor air quality. Deadline reports that the show began 10 minutes late, followed by Comer announcing that she was no longer able to continue the performance as she was not able to breathe properly.
Hundreds of firefighters are currently fighting forest wildfires in Canada with more to join from the Canadian army, according to Quebec premier Francois Legault. With hundreds of wildfires spreading across multiple regions in Canada, Quebec is currently one of the worst affected regions. According to Reuters, Canada’s second-most populous province has experienced four times its 10-year average of wildfires this year alone.
New York’s LaGuardia airport lifted a temporary hold on flights early on Wednesday afternoon, after grounding jets because of the low visibility a few hours earlier. Even though skies did not seem to be clearing over the city, the Federal Aviation Authority, with smoke and haze currently shrouding multiple states, a so-called “ground stop” at the airport was lifted.
With New York City being ranked briefly this morning as the city with the world’s worst air pollution, mayor Eric Adams warned that climate change has accelerated the conditions surrounding the smokey haze that has shrouded the city. “While this may be the first time we’ve experienced something like this on this magnitude...it is not the last. Climate change accelerated these conditions,” he said.
On Wednesday, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau praised the “extreme modesty of heroes” as fire crews across the country grappled with more than 400 blazes, 239 of which are considered out of control. “Firefighters are stepping up first responders are stepping up in harrowing situations to save their fellow citizens,” said Trudeau. “I think we all need to be taking time to recognize the first responders in our communities.”
Tens of millions of Americans are currently under air quality alerts as smoke from wildfires spreading through Canada drift southward across east coast states. Multiple states across the east coast including New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut have issued air quality alerts. The alerts come as a result of smoke from hundreds of wildfires that have been burning in Canada as early as May.
That’s it for today as we close down the blog. Thank you for following along.
Tonight’s baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox has been postponed due to the poor air quality across New York City.
#Yankees Game postponed tonight versus the White Sox due to poor air quality. Doubleheader tomorrow at 4 pm and 7 pm! @yankeestadium
— Bruce Beck (@BruceBeck4NY) June 7, 2023
For more details on other games being postponed across the country, click here:
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