Millions confined indoor in New York..

A huge cloud of smoke from the wildfires in Quebec has forced millions of people to stay indoors and grounded aircraft in New York City, forcing children to stay inside from Maryland to Canada’s capital.

Due to the smoke, which caused iconic skylines to vanish behind drifting orange gases, more than 75 million people in the eastern US are under air quality advisories today. According to the federal website AirNow.gov, major metro regions like Philadelphia, Jersey City, New Jersey, and New Haven, Connecticut, had air quality indexes between 200 and 300 as of Wednesday night, which is regarded as “very unhealthy.”

As of 5 p.m. on Wednesday, New York City’s air quality index (AQI) was 484, which is considered “hazardous,” according to Mayor Eric Adams. According to him, that is the city’s highest level ever recorded since the 1960s.