New York zoos and aquarium remain closed due to air quality
The Wildlife Conservation Society announced that it would keep its four zoos and one aquarium closed following bad air quality. Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium are closed, with their staff monitoring the health of the animals.
Animals are showing no adverse effects or health complications amid the bad air quality.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene also recommends limited outdoor activity.
Smoke is snarling air travel. Here's what you need to know right now.
Air travel has been upended by the smoke wafting across the United States this week. Here's where things stand right now, according to FlightAware.com, a flight tracking service:
— More than 200 flights across the continental U.S. were delayed as of 9 a.m. ET., and 10 flights were canceled.
— Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport are experiencing the most air travel "misery," according to FlightAware's MiseryMap.
Departures to Philadelphia International Airport grounded
A ground stop was issued for departures to Philadelphia International Airport around 8:30 a.m. this morning due to weather and low visibility, the FAA said.
The ground stop is slated to last through 9:15 a.m.
This marks the second airport this morning to experience a ground stop or delay as the East Coast grapples with another day of thick wildfire smoke.
Smoke expected to start clearing over the weekend
People across the eastern U.S. have woken up to yet another hazy day.
Conditions are expected to improve in New York City by tomorrow afternoon, however.
By Saturday, all areas from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast should finally see a reprieve as a wind shift pushes the smoke away.
123 million under air quality alerts
An orange haze is still on the forecast today with 100 million people under air quality alerts for smoke from Canadian wildfires in 16 states and 23 million under alerts for ozone in seven states.
The wildfire smoke will continue to impact cities across the Northeast, but is anticipated to clear out by Saturday.
The air quality index level jumped above 400 for parts of New York City — in Brooklyn and Queens — for a brief time when the smog was the most dense yesterday, marking the worst air quality for the area on record.
At 4 a.m. ET today, the city’s AQI level was already at 245. As of 8:30 a.m., it was at 184. As of 6:30 a.m. today, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore’s AQI levels were already worse than that of yesterday.
Smoke and haze will still impact swaths of the country, but won’t be as intense as Tuesday and yesterday.
Midwest and Eastern Seaboard hit by heavy A.M. smoke
Parts of the Midwest and the East Coast woke up this morning to heavy smoke.
A map from AirNow.gov showed "unhealthy" air quality index across Michigan and Ohio, with parts of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Maryland reaching "very unhealthy" and "hazardous" levels around 8:30 a.m. ET.
AirNow is a government partnership that includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Park Service, NASA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A man jogs through the Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, while the smoke from the Canadian wildfires thickens the Manhattan skyline today.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors when the air quality is poor?
The air quality in places like New York City, Philadelphia and other areas of the Northeast on Wednesday may give pause to outdoor exercise enthusiasts, including runners.
The air quality index, or AQI, in New York exceeded 340 Wednesday afternoon — making it the city with worst air quality in the world — as smoke from wildfires in eastern Canada wafted into the United States. The AQI runs from 0 to 500; higher numbers indicate greater levels of air pollution and greater health concerns, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Once levels exceed 150, running outdoors may become risky, said Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a pulmonologist with the American Lung Association.