Smoke from Canadian wildfires shrouded New York in a record-breaking apocalyptic smog on Wednesday, as cities along the US east coast issued air pollution warnings and thousands evacuated their homes in Canada.
The devastating fires have displaced more than 20,000 people and scorched about 3.8 million hectares of land in Canada, where Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described this wildfire season as the country’s worst ever.
More than 100 million people across the northeastern US, and extending west to Chicago, Michigan, and south to Atlanta, Georgia, were under pollution warnings after the smoke drifted hundreds of kilometers from Canada, the US Environmental Protection Agency said.
The thick pollution cast an eerie, yellowish glow over New York City’s skyscrapers, delayed flights and forced the postponement of sporting events.
“It smells like someone is doing a barbecue,” said Nicha Suaittiyanon, a 30-year-old tourist in New York City from Thailand, who complained of watery and itchy eyes.
New York Mayor Eric Adams told New Yorkers to limit outdoor activity to “the absolute necessities,” adding that “this is not the day to train for a marathon.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the situation an “emergency crisis” that could last several days.
All outdoor activities at New York City’s public schools were suspended, as the smog enveloped the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said that it had slowed traffic to and from the city’s airports due to reduced visibility.
US President Joe Biden wrote on Twitter that more than 600 firefighters along with other personnel and equipment had been sent to Canada to help battle the blazes.
More than 11,000 people have been evacuated in Canada’s province of Quebec, and another 4,000 were expected to flee by the end of Wednesday, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said.
Biden spoke with Trudeau on Wednesday and offered “additional support to respond to the devastating and historic wildfires,” the White House said.
Trudeau said that he had thanked Biden, writing on Twitter: “These fires are affecting everyday routines, lives and livelihoods, and our air quality.”
“We’ll keep working ... to tackle climate change and address its impacts,” he wrote.
Scientists have warned that rising temperatures are increasing the risk of extreme weather, including the hot, dry spells that often fan wildfires.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the situation was an “alarming example of the ways in which the climate crisis is disturbing our lives.”
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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