Closing Summary
It is slightly past 6pm in New York City. Here is a wrap up of the day’s key events:
In a tweet on Thursday, US vice-president Kamala Harris said that the Canadian wildfires and subsequent smoke haze shrouding many east coast states “are intensifying because of the climate crisis”. She added that the Biden-Harris administration was working closely alongside Canadian officials in response to the crisis.
The US experienced its worst toxic air pollution from wildfire smoke in its recent recorded history on Wednesday, researchers have found, with people in New York exposed to levels of pollution more than five times above the national air quality standard. The rapid analysis of the extreme event, shared with the Guardian, found that smoke billowing south from forest fires in Canada caused Americans to suffer the worst day of average exposure to such pollution since a dataset on smoky conditions started in 2006.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, has lashed out against Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s official conservative opposition, accusing him of refusing to put forward concrete plans to fight climate crisis. Speaking in parliament and gradually raising his voice, Trudeau said: “For the leader of the opposition to consider that the forest fires that are taking people from their communities and destroying their homes are a mere distraction … is shameful.”
US president Joe Biden has spoken Trudeau and offered to deploy all available federal firefighting assets. In a statement released on Wednesday, the White House announced that the Biden administration has offered additional support to respond to the wildfires currently burning across Canada.
Toxic smoke from Canadian wildfires could linger over vast swathes of the US for days, officials warned, as millions of Americans remained under air pollution warnings. Across the eastern US residents were again urged to stay inside and limit or avoid outdoor activities on Thursday, as schools in some cities closed, sporting events were canceled and air travel was disrupted.
Protesters are set to descend upon the White House on Thursday amid growing anger among climate activists at Joe Biden for allowing a controversial gas pipeline in Appalachia to be fast-tracked. Several hundred protesters are expected to demand Biden “reclaim his climate legacy” by blocking the Mountain Valley pipeline, a 300-mile pipeline that will bring fracked gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia.
New York governor Kathy Hochul tweeted that from Thursday 1m N95 masks would be made available at state facilities. She also urged people living in the state to remain indoors.
That’s it from me today, Maya Yang, as we close the blog. Thank you for following along.
Updated
Here is a video of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s fiery address in parliament during which he slammed conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre for climate crisis inaction:
Updated
