The aerial situation in New York is improving, albeit slowly.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently decided to lift the ground stop it mandated for flights bound for New York's LaGuardia airport due to smoke but has delayed some flights on the ground instead.
The smoke New York is experiencing comes from the wildfires in Canada, which started due to either lightning or human activity, per Reuters.
A person waiting for the subway wears a filtered mask as smoky haze from wildfires in Canada blankets a neighborhood on June 7, 2023 in the Bronx borough of New York City.
FAA LaGuardia Flight Delays Details
The FAA mentioned in a statement to CNN that it had slowed air traffic to and from New York City area airports, including LaGuardia Airport, due to reduced visibility from wildfire smoke and that it will adjust the volume of traffic to account for the rapidly changing conditions.
As such, it lifted the ground stop it imposed on LaGuardia Airport, opting to delay some flights on the ground instead for the safety of the airliners' crew and passengers.
The FAA also revealed it New York is not the only state suffering from the smoke from the Canadian wildfires - flights into Philadelphia are also being impacted by the smoke, causing an average 30-minute delay. The government agency also warned that the wildfires are also affecting Boston, Baltimore, and Washington DC, meaning that flights through these states may encounter some delays at best.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg assured people in his now-deleted tweet that the FAA is fully prepared to modify operations as needed to protect people.
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Wildfire Smoke's Effects On The Ground
Meanwhile, companies have been instructing employees to stay in their homes due to the "unhealthy" air quality in many parts of the East Coast. These include the Detroit area, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina.
According to Business Insider, which cited a CNBC report, Google is one of these companies that issued such an order; it even released a memo advising employees to work from home and limit their exposure to outdoor air instead of following its hybrid workweek policy.
The US government is also issuing air quality warnings to people across the Midwest and Northeast, telling people to limit time spent outdoors.
What Caused The Wildfires?
Canada's wildfires are caused by an amalgamation of reasons, according to the Washington Post. These reasons include lightning, human activity (like throwing burning cigarettes on the ground), spontaneous combustion, and climate change.
As of press time, there are 423 active fires across Canada, with 246 of them being out of control, per the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. Of the Canadian cities affected, Quebec is getting the worst of the situation, with it being the origin of 154 of them.
Alberta would come next with 70 active wildfires, while there are 68 active ones in British Columbia. Additionally, 45 of the new wildland fires are located in Ontario.
Time reports that US weather officials warn that high smoke levels are expected to remain in the Midwest and Northeast over the next few days. As such, using N95 masks can help filter out some of the particles in the smoke are a must if going outside during this time is unavoidable.
Face coverings like cloth masks, surgical masks, or wet handkerchiefs won't be as effective, per the Environmental Protection Agency.
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