If you’ve stepped outside lately and thought, “It smells like a campfire out here”, you wouldn’t be wrong. Smoke from the ongoing Canadian wildfires continues to drift across Central New York and the Northeast, triggering air quality alerts.
It’s the kind of exposure that some experts say is equivalent to smoking up to half a pack of cigarettes a day.
Why Central NY’s Air Looks So Bad
Thanks to nearly 4,000 wildfires raging across Canada in what’s being called their second-worst wildfire season on record, smoke has traveled thousands of miles downwind into the U.S. That means cities across New York, including Utica and Syracuse, are experiencing dangerously high Air Quality Index (AQI) levels.
On days where AQI hits between 150 and 200 (a level we’ve seen several times this summer in Central NY), breathing the air outside is similar to inhaling the toxins from 10+ cigarettes.
Health Risks of Wildfire Smoke
The effects of wildfire smoke are real and can hit everyone, but are especially serious for young kids, older adults, pregnant women and anyone with asthma, COPD or heart conditions…