US, millions breathing hazardous air as smoke from Canadian wildfires cross borders

In US, millions are breathing hazardous air as smoke from Canadian wildfires cross borders. The air quality index, a US Environmental Protection Agency metric for air pollution, exceeded a staggering 400 at times in Syracuse, New York City and Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.  

A level of 50 or under is considered good and anything over 300 is considered hazardous. Even healthy people are advised to curtail outdoor physical activity.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the US East Coast and Midwest



yesterday, covering the capitals of both nations in an unhealthy haze, holding up flights at major airports, postponing Major League Baseball games and prompting people to fish out pandemic-era face masks.

Canadian officials asked other countries for additional help fighting more than 400 blazes nationwide that already have displaced 20,000 people.  

Massive tongues of unhealthy air extended as far as North Carolina and Indiana, affecting millions of people.