Toronto air quality suffers due to Ontario wildfire smoke
Wildfires in Northern Ontario have blanketed Toronto in thick smoke, resulting in the world's worst air quality and widespread health warnings. The smoke has also drifted into the United States, prompting cross-border emergency cooperation.
Why it matters
The event underscores the increasing frequency and severity of climate-driven natural disasters and their impact on urban health and international relations.
A swimmer at Humber Bay Park West looks at smoke from Northern Ontario forest fires that had the Toronto skyline shrouded in an orange haze on Wednesday.
Toronto was blanketed under an eerie orange sky Wednesday as a thick, choking cover of smoke from hundreds of wildfires in northern Ontario pushed the city’s air quality to worst in the world, prompting health warnings and event cancellations.
Air quality warnings from Environment Canada stretched from Thunder Bay east to Kingston and south to London. Evacuation orders have been issued for several First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a social media post Wednesday night that his government was “in close contact with provincial, municipal and Indigenous partners and stands ready to provide any additional support as needed.”
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