Air quality: Noxious smoke eases over US but wildfires still major threat in Canada

Jodie Comer ended her one-woman show Prima Facie early on Wednesday (7 June) due to the “hazardous” air quality in New York.

The air quality in the US city reached record lows after thick smoke billowed south from Canada’s devastating wildfires.

An audience member at the matinee production of Prima Facie at the John Golden Theatre told Deadline that Comer, 30, appeared on stage 10 minutes late.

Just a few minutes later, the Killing Eve star was off again after reportedly telling a stage manager: “I can’t breathe in this air.”

Tom Murray has the full story for The Independent.

New York’s iconic skyline is barely visible today that’s to wildfire smoke blanketing the sky.

You can tune into the latest conditions surrounding the Empire State Building with a livecam here.

Broadway shows like Hamilton as well as New York fixtures like Free Shakespeare in the Park have canceled evening shows tonight, as wildfire smoke continues to fill the New York City sky.

“Tonight’s performance of Hamilton will not go on as scheduled,” Shane Marshall Brown, a spokesman for the show, told The New York Times in a statement. “The hazardous air quality in New York City has made it impossible for a number of our artists to perform this evening. Shows will resume as scheduled tomorrow. We apologize for the inconvenience and encourage you to visit your point of purchase for refund or exchange.”

Call it advertising imitating life.

New Yorkers on social media noticed a billboard with an ironic message on Wednesday as wildfire smoke made the sky glow an eerie shade of orange.

The ad, for the video game Diablo IV, read, “Welcome to hell, New York,” and showed a demon glaring down at passersby.

After enough Twitter users pointed out the strange juxtaposition, an executive from the game’s creator weighed in.

“I would like to clarify that Blizzard has no affiliation or partnership with the wildfires in Canada,” Activision Blizzard COO Lulu Cheng Meservy wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “In fact we are firmly against wildfires and condemn them in the strongest terms.”

Elected leaders have weighed in about the wildfire smoke traveling across the East Coast. Here are some of the most notable comments.

The climate crisis affects all of us, but it doesn’t affect all of us equally.

As Gustavo Ajche, an organiser for delivery workers in New York City reminds us, it is working class people and the poor who have the least ability to pack up, stay inside, and avoid the worst impacts.

“We are essential workers we are working at all times regardless of the weather conditions, very hot, extreme cold, storms and this week poor air quality,” he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

Leaders from across the worlds of politics, entertainment, and activism warned on Wednesday that the wildfire smoke blanketing the East Coast today is a sign of the climate crisis.

“It bears repeating how unprepared we are for the climate crisis,” New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, referencing the smoke and recent soaring temperatures in Puerto Rico. “We must adapt our food systems, energy grids, infrastructure, healthcare, etc ASAP to prepare for what’s to come and catch up to what is already here.”

Fellow progressive Bernie Sanders sounded a similar note, writing on Twitter: “Right now, 98 MILLION people on the East Coast are under air quality alerts from Canadian fires and, last night, NYC had the worst air quality in the world.”

More details in our full story.

The northeast of the United States is battling smoke from 400 wildfires raging across Canada which have burned more than 6 million acres and led to mass evacuations.

And it’s far from over: Canadian officials warned that this could be the country’s worst wildfire season on record.

Smoke has darkened skies and made it difficult to breathe in at least half a dozen states and large parts of Canada, including major cities like New York, Toronto, Ottawa, Washington DC and Philadelphia.

Louise Boyle has the details.

Jodie Comer ended her one-woman show Prima Facie early on Wednesday (7 June) due to the “hazardous” air quality in New York.

The air quality in the US city reached record lows after thick smoke billowed south from Canada’s devastating wildfires.

An audience member at the matinee production of Prima Facie at the John Golden Theatre told Deadline that Comer, 30, appeared on stage 10 minutes late.

Tom Murray reports.

The skies across the northeastern United States, including New York were engulfed by smoke flowing from Canada as roughly 400 wildfires continue to rage in the country.

New York City was the world’s most polluted major city on Wednesday, surpassing Delhi, Baghdad, Kuwait and Dhaka, according to ratings by IQAir, a Swiss technology company that monitors air quality.

The worst impact of the pollution was visible in the tri-state area where visibility plummeted and skies turned hazy. The sun and the moon were also blotted to a deep orange by the smoky conditions.