Smoke keeps GTA in smelly chokehold — but relief is on the way
· Toronto Sun
See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source
After a day of enduring the world’s worst air quality, Toronto’s smoky haze gets knocked out of the top spot by the Motor City.
Visit chickenroad-game.rodeo for more information.
Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAi r ranked Toronto as the world’s second-most polluted city on Thursday morning, reporting a hazardous air quality index (AQI) of 400, with Detroit’s 518 AQI coming in first.
Smoke from northwestern Ontario wildfires continues to drift south into southwestern Ontario and the Midwest United States on Thursday, blanketing much of the area in a smelly, muddy orange haze that’s causing concern among those with health or breathing problems.
While Toronto was the only North American city to rank in the top five on Wednesday, on Thursday, the Big Smoke was joined by Minneapolis, whose 369 AQI ranked third, and Chicago, coming in fourth with an unhealthy air quality index of 213.
On Wednesday, Toronto’s AQI only reached 192 — good enough to be ranked the world’s most polluted city at the time.
Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo — consistently ranked as one of the world’s dirtiest cities — ranked 5th with an AQI of 157, followed by Delhi, India (145 AQI), the Israeli capital of Jerusalem (131 AQI), Lahore, Pakistan (124 AQI), Tel Aviv (123 AQI), and New York City, coming in 10th with an AQI of 109.
Montreal ranked 79th with a moderate AQI of 54, and Vancouver at 106th with an AQI of 40 — well into the “good” category.
Big Smoke still smoky
Thursday dawned with the air looking a bit better than it had the day previous, but many told the Sun newsroom that the smell of charred wood and ash was stronger in many parts of the city.
Tim Sacrey, who lives in Mississauga, told the Sun that the smoke smell was far worse on Thursday morning.
“You can almost taste it,” he said.
“(The smoke) seems lower to the ground than yesterday.”
Sacrey said his partner has bad asthma and had to resort to using her rescue inhaler on more than one occasion.
“She’s inside a lot, but when she was on the bus yesterday afternoon, it was a struggle.”
Rita Schaub said the skies on Thursday weren’t the apocalyptic shade of orange they were the day previous, but conditions still weren’t ideal.
“It smells like a huge campfire today out there,” she said.
“The sun is brighter at least, and the sky doesn’t appear to be orange.”
Relief coming this weekend
Torontonians will only have to endure the spicy air for a little while longer, Environment Canada meteorologist Kate Leclerc told the Toronto Sun on Wednesday.
“Because the fires are still ongoing, and the wind won’t change until at least Friday, we’re continuously being affected by that smoke straight from northwestern Ontario,” she said.
Relief is expected to come via a weak weather system expected to move into the area on Friday, which is expected to shift the winds carrying the smoke away from the GTA, and also break the heatwave the city’s endured for the past week.
“Warnings may be lifted, but it’s still going to be relatively warm until Friday and into the weekend,” she said.
Until then, experts say those at risk of respiratory distress should avoid going outside — but if they must, to protect themselves.
“The easiest ways to reduce risk would include monitoring air quality,” said Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa.
“When it’s poor, limiting time and exercise outdoors, wearing a properly fitted N95 mask when lengthy exposure is unavoidable, and ensuring your home ventilation uses a high efficiency filter.”