Washington DC briefly held the title for the worst air quality of any major city in the world this past Sunday. It was all courtesy of a massive, 40-minute fireworks display that pushed local pollution levels into dangerous territory. According to CNN, the extreme heatwave resulted in triple-digit temperatures on Saturday. This, combined with a staggering amount of pyrotechnics, made the atmosphere particularly volatile.
The fireworks were organized by Freedom 250, a nonprofit backed by President Donald Trump that was tasked with managing a series of semiquincentennial events. The display was designed to be a record-breaking spectacle, launching hundreds of thousands of shells from 10 different sites, including the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the Potomac River, and West Potomac Park.
