Day after day, the cities of North America compete for the first place of the most polluted metropolises in the world. Friday, June 30, Montreal (Quebec), Toronto (Ontario), the most populous city in Canada, and the American megalopolis of New York were on the podium of the most unbreathable cities, according to the international barometer IQAir, with indices located between 129 and 157, when this quality is considered “bad” from 51.
Smoke from some 497 forest fires still active across Canada on June 30, nearly half of which remain ” out of control “ particularly in northeastern Ontario and Quebec, have spread throughout North America.
Smog alerts have been issued in the United States in fifteen states, including Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas and even Pennsylvania. In total, more than 80 million Americans are affected by this poor air quality. And the situation also deteriorated again in southern Canada this weekend, without however reaching the historic pollution records observed on June 24 and 25.
From Quebec to Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), from Val-d’Or, a small town of 20,000 inhabitants in northeastern Canada near which the forest is still burning, to Chicago (Illinois), more than a thousand kilometers from a distance, the same yellowish mist clouds the atmosphere and blurs urban landmarks, the same acrid air irritates the throat and stings the eyes. In the student district of Montreal, a group of young people multiplies the selfies, with in the background the sun reduced to an incandescent ring. “We take pictures of the end of the world”they let go, readjusting their paper mask on their faces.
No influx of patients to the hospital
“Beyond traditional measurements of pollutants such as ozone or nitrogen dioxide, we carefully monitor the content of fine particles in the airexplains Peter Kimbell, meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. They are the most volatile and the most likely to infiltrate our bodies. » When the concentration of these tiny particles exceeds 35 micrograms per cubic meter, the air quality is considered “poor”. On June 25, in Montreal, it reached the record of 500 micrograms per cubic meter. It is the northerly winds, currently dominating over Canada, which are pushing the huge plumes of smoke towards the south of the continent.
“These fine particles, called “PM2.5”, can penetrate very deeply into the lungs and into the bloodstream., details David Kaiser, doctor at the Montreal regional public health office. They therefore have impacts on the entire respiratory system and on cardiac functioning, especially among people who are already vulnerable, such as asthmatics, the elderly and pregnant women. »
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