Air quality alert for NYC area today, as Canadian wildfire smoke creates hazy conditions
New York City and the surrounding area are under an air quality alert Wednesday. The alert will be in effect from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
New York officials say the alert will impact the city, along with Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.
Hundreds of wildfires are currently burning in Canada, and the smoke has been spreading into the northern United States for the past few days.
Why is there an air quality alert?
CBS News New York
Smoke and haze continue to drift into the Tri-State region from Canada's prairie provinces. This will lead to poor air quality and hazy sunshine throughout the day.
New York City's air quality often suffers in the summer, most notably during heat waves as the result of higher temperatures and humidity levels. Stagnant air traps pollutants from cars and factories, creating high levels of fine particulates that react to sunlight, leading to or worsening respiratory issues.
Sometimes, though, it has nothing to do with pollution. In June 2023, northerly winds funneled smoke from wildfires in the Canadian province of Quebec directly into New York City. This led to an extremely hazardous AQI of 484 -- not only the highest level ever recorded in the city, but the worst air quality in the entire world on that date.
Air Quality Index (AQI) explained
CBS News New York
The Air Quality Index measures air pollution and the associated health risks.
The system has six ratings:
Good (green): 0 to 50
Moderate (yellow): 51 to 100
Unhealthy for sensitive groups (orange): 101 to 150
Unhealthy (red): 151 to 200
Very unhealthy (purple): 201 to 300
Hazardous (marron): 301 and higher
An air quality alert is issued when the AQI exceeds 100.
Sensitive groups include people who have a heart or lung disease, as well as older adults, children and pregnant women.
Why are the sun and moon red?
CBS News New York
Smoke from the wildfires can sometimes cause the sun and moon to appear with a reddish glow.
The color of the sky is determined by how sunlight interacts with particles in the air. So when smoke introduces more particulate matter, it can also impact the color.
Matt Sitkowski, the science editor in chief at The Weather Channel, explained that blue-colored light has shorter wavelengths and red-colored light has longer ones.
"When smoke is in the atmosphere, it not only makes the sun dimmer, it increases the amount and size of particulate matter in the atmosphere that absorbs more of the shorter wavelengths, leaving longer wavelengths to reach our eyes," he told CBS News in a previous interview.
NYC weather forecast this week
CBS News New York
Temperatures will continue to rise Wednesday, reaching the mid-to-upper 80s by the afternoon hours. Along with those rising temperatures will come increasingly humid conditions. For tonight, despite the haze, skies will remain mostly clear with lows in the 60s.
Thursday looks to be the hottest day of the year so far, with highs in the upper 80s to low 90s for most of the area, except coastal areas, where highs will only reach the 70s. Humidity levels will also continue to rise, and there will be a stray chance of an afternoon/evening thunderstorm for the northwestern suburbs.
As for the smoke and haze, it will remain in place as well.
Friday will be partly cloudy, warm and humid with a chance of thunderstorms. Saturday looks to be less warm but still humid with another chance of storms.
Stick with our First Alert Weather team for the latest forecast, live radar and and weather alerts.
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About obesityObesity is a serious chronic, progressive, and complex disease that requires long-term management.4-6 One key misunderstanding is that this is a disease of just lack of willpower, when in fact there is underlying biology that may impede people with obesity from losing weight and keeping it off.4,6 Obesity is influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics, social determinants of health, and the environment.7,8 The prevalence of overweight and obesity is a public health issue that has severe cost implications to healthcare systems.9,10 In the US, about 40% of adults live with obesity.11 About Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company that's been making innovative medicines to help people with diabetes lead longer, healthier lives for more than 100 years. This heritage has given us experience and capabilities that also enable us to drive change to help people defeat other serious chronic diseases such as obesity, rare blood, and endocrine disorders. We remain steadfast in our conviction that the formula for lasting success is to stay focused, think long-term, and do business in a financially, socially, and environmentally responsible way. With a US presence spanning 40 years, Novo Nordisk US is headquartered in New Jersey and employs over 10,000 people throughout the country across 12 manufacturing, R&D and corporate locations in eight states plus Washington DC. For more information, visit Facebook, Instagram, and X. Novo Nordisk is committed to the responsible use of our semaglutide-containing medicines which represent distinct products with different indications, dosages, prescribing information, titration schedules, and delivery forms. These products are not interchangeable and should not be used outside of their approved indications. Learn more at Contacts for further information Media:Liz Skrbkova (US)+1 609 917 0632USMediaRelations@ Ambre James-Brown (Global)+45 3079 9289Globalmedia@ Investors:Frederik Taylor Pitter (US)+1 609 613 0568fptr@ Jacob Martin Wiborg Rode (Global)+45 3075 5956jrde@ Sina Meyer (Global)+45 3079 6656 azey@ Ida Schaap Melvold (Global)+45 3077 5649 idmg@ Max Ung (Global)+45 3077 6414mxun@ References: Garvey T, Blüher M, Contreras C, et al. Coadministered Cagrilintide and Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2025;10.1056/NEJMoa2502081. A Research Study to Look at How Well CagriSema Helps People Living With Obesity Lose Weight and Maintain Weight Loss in the Long-term. Last Accessed: June 2025. Available at: Davies M, Bajaj H, Broholm C, et al. Cagrilintide–Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. N Engl J Med. 2025;10.1056/NEJMoa2502082. Kaplan LM, Golden A, Jinnett K, et al. Perceptions of barriers to effective obesity care: results from the national action study. Obesity. 2018;26(1):61-69. Bray GA, Kim KK, Wilding JPH; World Obesity Federation. Obesity: a chronic relapsing progressive disease process. A position statement of the World Obesity Federation. Rev. 2017;18(7):715-723. Garvey WT, Mechanick JI, Brett EM, et al. American association of clinical endocrinologists and American College of Endocrinology comprehensive clinical practice guidelines for medical care of patients with obesity. Endocr Pract. 2016;22 (Suppl 3):1-203. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adult obesity facts. Last accessed: June 2025. Available at: World Obesity Federation. World Obesity Atlas 2023. Last accessed: June 2025. Available at: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Risk Factors for Obesity. Last accessed: June 2025. Available at: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Why it matters. Last accessed: June 2025. Available at: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity and Severe Obesity Prevalence in Adults: United States, August 2021–August 2023. Last accessed June 2025. Available at: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE NOVO NORDISK INC. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
