The East Coast just inhaled the worst air pollution in a generation — and maybe since well before.
Here are some astonishing numbers that put the haze that blanketed the eastern United States into context:
128,000,000: The rough number of Americans who had an air quality alert on Wednesday night.
465: New York City’s record-setting AQI on Wednesday, June 7, by The New York Times’ measure.
377: The average AQI in New York on Wednesday.
39: New York’s average AQI on June 7 of last year.
320: The average AQI of New Delhi, India, in November 2022 — one of the city’s best Novembers in years.
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314: D.C.’s AQI on Thursday morning.
438: The AQI in Syracuse at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
447: Philadelphia’s AQI on Wednesday night.
1,920: The number of public schools between D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City that canceled all outdoor activities on Wednesday and Thursday.
4: The number of professional sports games that have been canceled due to air pollution.
6 (or 7): How many cigarettes that spending 24 hours outside in New York City mid-week is equivalent to, depending on the source.
27.5: The micrograms of pollutant per one cubic meter of air across the United States on Wednesday, making it the worst wildfire pollution day in American history.
9,353,780: The number of Canadian acres that have burned this year due to wildfires.
1,715: The total number of delays from Wednesday through 3 p.m. Thursday at LaGuardia, Newark, and Philadelphia airports (according to FlightAware).
17% to 26%: The portion of the Black-white earnings gap attributable to disparities in air pollution exposure.
Editor’s note: This article was updated after New York City revised its AQI record.
Read more about the wildfire smoke:
Your Plants Are Going to Be Okay.
Why Are the Canadian Wildfires So Bad This Year?
How to Stay Safe from Wildfire Smoke Indoors
Wildfire Smoke Is a Wheezy Throwback for New York City
Wednesday Was the Worst Day for Wildfire Pollution in U.S. History
