Toronto was filled with smoke while US cities threatened | Weather News

The Monitor says Toronto has the worst air pollution in the world, more than Kinshasa, DR Congo, and New Delhi, India.

Toronto’s air has become the worst among major cities in the world as smoke from wildfires in northwestern Ontario blankets the air and spreads to the northeastern United States, prompting several health warnings and evacuations.

Wildfires continued to burn in sparsely populated areas hundreds of kilometers from Toronto, Canada’s largest city, on Wednesday, sending smoke across a large area, although cities in the region were not threatened.

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Environment Canada reported an Air Quality Health Index reading of 10+, known as “high risk”, in Toronto. Forecasts indicate that the hazardous conditions may continue on Thursday night.

IQAir, a Swiss technology company, ranked Toronto as having the worst air pollution in the world, ahead of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and New Delhi in India.

“The biggest contributor to air pollution in Toronto right now is wildfires, although extreme temperatures are also contributing,” IQAir’s Armen Araradian told AFP news agency.

Although this year’s wildfire season in Canada has been muted compared to recent years, there are more than 800 wildfires around the world.

A video that went viral on social media showed the Canadian National train engulfed in flames near Armstrong, Ontario. Canadian National employees in the area and residents of Armstrong were evacuated Monday night, a railroad operator said. It halted rail operations near Armstrong as a precautionary measure.

Smoke from wildfires also caused air pollution along the US border, with Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire affected.

Officials in New York City have issued an air pollution warning, urging people to limit outdoor activities and take extra breaks when outdoors Wednesday and Thursday.

The National Weather Service said the smoke could continue through the weekend.

“We’ve probably never seen the worst in New York City. We’ve never seen the worst of the Great Lakes and the north, and New England,” Dan Westervelt, Lamont’s research assistant professor at Columbia University, told Reuters.

More than 80,000 people are expected to attend the FIFA World Cup final at a stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, and another 50,000 are planning to watch the game from New York City’s Central Park, where the sky looks orange.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul urged people, especially those with health issues, to be careful.

Canada’s government said the wildfire season started slower this year than in 2023 or 2025 – the two worst wildfire seasons – but warned that more fires could occur, given warmer-than-usual temperatures across the country.

It said 835 fires were burning across the country on Wednesday, with 112 considered out of control, with most in central Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

They have burned 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres) so far.

Greg Evans, a professor of chemical engineering and applied chemistry at the University of Toronto, said the city was simultaneously affected by extreme heat and smoke.

“I expect this to happen more frequently in the next few decades, so cities and residents need to prepare for this in the future,” he said.