Reduced visibility as a result of the smoke from wildfires across Canada have caused the Federal Aviation Administration (F.A.A.) to pause flights into select airports in the Northeast.
Currently there are ground delays for LaGuardia International Airport (LGA) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in New York and New Jersey, respectively. Flights into LaGuardia are delayed on average 54 minutes with the longest on Thursday being 94 minutes. The F.A.A. currently has delayed all flights nationwide bound for Newark, with the average being 34 minutes and lasting up t 104 minutes.
In all, upwards of 800 flights into the New York City area were delayed Thursday morning. In a ripple effect, the delays resulted in postponed flights at airports from Atlanta to Houston, as well.
Flights into Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) were also briefly delayed this morning but the F.A.A. has resumed flights into the city.
In Canada, more than 9 million acres—roughly double the size of New Jersey—have burned this year as a result of 2,300-plus fires. According to CNN, this is just the start of fire season, which typically peaks in the summer months of July and August, yet fires this year have burned about 15 times more land than typical through this point. In fact, the report notes that already one year’s worth of area has already been burned. This year marks the fourth-worse season in the last 10.
According to BBC, more than 150 fires are burning in Quebec alone (which are largely responsible for the smoke and flight delays in the Northeast U.S.), with 230 fires raging across the entire country. More than 20,000 people have had to evacuate their homes in Canada.
In addition, the air quality throughout parts of the Northeast range from Hazardous down to Moderate, according to the U.S. Air Quality Index.
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