Canada has once again entered the peak season for wildfires during the scorching summer. This week, smoke has already drifted as far as the border regions of the Midwest in the United States. However, experts say that New York is unlikely to experience a “smokepocalypse” similar to last summer when the entire city was shrouded in smoke.
British Columbia and Alberta in Canada are currently experiencing nearly 90 wildfires. The smoke from these wildfires has reached states such as Montana, both North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the United States this week. Last summer, the harmful smoke from Canadian wildfires engulfed New York, triggering air quality alerts, a sharp increase in asthma-related emergency cases, people wearing masks again, and the sky turning orange, resembling an apocalypse. However, Fox5 NY meteorologist Mike Woods pointed out that currently, there is no significant amount of smoke drifting towards New York, with most of it staying along the border of the Midwest in the US, making it highly unlikely to reach the northern part of New York state.
Columbia University and NASA researcher Dan Westervelt also believe that New York City does not need to prepare for a “smokepocalypse” in the near term. In an interview with New York Magazine, Westervelt stated that last summer’s smoke shrouding New York and the East Coast originated from wildfires in eastern provinces of Canada. This year, wildfires in Canada have been limited to western provinces so far, and the current weather patterns only direct the smoke southwards rather than eastwards. Therefore, it is highly unlikely for the smoke to drift to New York, let alone to Washington D.C. or Boston.