TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Millions of people in North America are under air quality advisories as wildfires burning across Canada have prompted evacuations, disrupted air travel and caused apocalyptic, smoke-filled skies even thousands of kilometers from the blazes.
The National Weather Service in the United States extended air quality alerts on Thursday for the East Coast from New England to South Carolina, as well as parts of the Midwest including Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.
Health officials in more than a dozen US states have also warned residents that spending time outdoors could cause respiratory issues due to the high levels of fine particulates in the atmosphere.
Canada is experiencing its worst-ever start to wildfire season on record, experts have said, with blazes reported in nearly all the country’s provinces and territories since May, AL Jazeera reported.
More than 400 Canadian wildfires are still burning, particularly in the eastern province of Quebec, where approximately 150 fires were reported as of Thursday morning and some 13,500 people have been forced to evacuate.
