Wildfire haze throughout NYC and Long Island causing health problems and concerns for the environment

New York City’s skyline engulfed by smoke from the Canadian wildfires // Photo courtesy of ABC7

New York City and Long Island were caught in hazardous air quality levels, with the air quality index (AQI) reaching as high as 413, starting on Tuesday, June 6, due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. The smoke traveled from Canada to as far south as Alabama. Hofstra students working and living on campus at this time were surrounded by the orange haze for a week and felt the health effects of the haze.

“It was really scary, to be honest. It felt like the world was ending for a bit,” said Nancy Dotterrer, a sophomore majoring in journalism and minoring in drama.

“It had almost felt like I was put into a glass box while I watched as the outside was filled with an extremely thick gas. It looked and felt apocalyptic,” said Natalie Arizmendi, a sophomore majoring in biology. “I felt nauseous and super dizzy; granted, the air around me was bright orange.”

The normal air quality index for New York City is under 50 and remains moderately under 100. During the haze from the wildfire smoke, New York City’s AQI reached 413, which is considered very hazardous. The city that never sleeps was ranked first for the worst air quality worldwide during the wildfires.

Jase Bernhardt, a meteorologist, associate professor of geology, environment and sustainability, and director of Hofstra’s sustainability studies graduate program, said that the haze shouldn’t cause long-term health effects.

“It’s not like [if] you have one bad day of air quality [that] you’re going to have, for most people, long-term health effects…it’d be more short term,” Bernhardt said. “If you’re outside for a peaceful amount of time without a mask…you’re probably going to be coughing or sneezing more than normal or just feeling kind of not-so-good.”

Bernhardt said that people at risk of dangerous air quality indexes, such as children, the elderly or those with health and respiratory issues, should not be the only ones continually monitoring air quality and looking out for alerts from the National Weather Service.

“Even a normal, healthy person, when there's a reduction in air quality, you still want to take it easy outside,” Bernhardt said. ”You certainly could feel shortness of breath and coughing.”

On Wednesday, June 7, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a statement recommending school districts to cancel outdoor activities throughout the state.

Some students who work on campus felt the health effects of the haze. “I have asthma, so I was coughing a lot, and I had to work outside, which made it hard to breathe,” Dotterrer said.

“Even through the vents, you could smell the toxic air outside begin to trickle into the building,” said Arizmendi, who resides in on-campus housing over the summer. “I called my mom but had to hang up because the air inside put me through a coughing fit. My throat hurt a lot, and I felt lightheaded.”

Some students were able to avoid the effects. “Luckily, I wasn’t heavily impacted by the haze,” said Brooke Baker, a sophomore television production and studies major and creative writing minor. “ As an orientation leader, we were not required to bring students around during the haze.”

 “The ventilation throughout the building was probably the best it could have gotten,” Arizmendi said who resides in Alliance Hall.

Bernhardt believes there was a lack of timeliness regarding canceling outdoor activities for school districts. Since New York has not faced these extreme weather conditions in the past 20 years, the state was “unfortunately behind” in taking action, according to Bernhardt.

“Of course, the mayor and whoever is making the decisions and administration, like in many cases, unfortunately was totally behind and sort of didn't realize the gravity of the situation, so they sent kids to school on Wednesday, [June 7,] for the worst air quality day,” Bernhardt said.

Some students felt there was a lack of timely updates from the university for residents and workers of the Hofstra community. 

“The next day, the haze had gone down, and you could go outside without feeling lightheaded, but that was also the same day that an email regarding the toxic levels outside was sent out,” Arizmendi said. “It would’ve helped if Hofstra was timelier with emails, so we can know what is going on that same day rather [than] when the issue no longer persists.”

Bernhardt explained that the reason for these extreme wildfires is more complex than just climate change.

“Fires are really hard to establish good trends in because [it is] not just natural,” said Bernhardt, who believes there is a lack of research indicating the direct relationship between the East Coast’s climate and wildfires. “There are certainly some signs that there could be more fire in a changing climate, but in this region, it’s not necessarily as much of a given than in other parts of the world.” 

Bernhardt explained that there is a stronger connection between the climate and the increase in wildfires in western parts of North America. “We've seen a really clear drying trend out west, which then leads to more fire weather,” Bernhardt said. “Drier fires start and spread more easily.”

Despite the orange haze clearing up, students worried about other members of society and the long-term health effects.

“I see it as a warning to treat our environment better,” Dotterrer said. “I don’t know if it will have harmful effects for the future, especially [for] homeless people who had nowhere to go.”

“This experience made me think about the intensifying effects of climate change and how warnings are now becoming even more dangerous with every newly occurring natural disaster,” Arizmendi said.

Bernhardt explained that some of the consequences of these mass fires include the possibility of more people being in danger. This is thanks to an increase of people living in wildland-urban interfaces, geographical zones where human settlement intermingles with wilderness. Wildland-urban interfaces are at a greater risk for wildfires.

“More humans are immediately in harm's way,” Bernhardt said.

Although Bernhardt is “not expecting long-term health impacts,” he emphasized that there is still danger that comes with an abnormally high air quality index. “No, you're not going to drop dead if you go outside without a mask, [but] when you're breathing in low-quality airs, it impacts your whole body,” Bernhardt said. “It was unhealthy for anyone at the worst of it.”

Meteorologists report the possibility of more smoke from Canada sweeping through New York later this week. Stay updated with air quality alerts and for more information through the National Weather Service.