'Apocalyptic Orange': As red sky dominates New York, chef Vikas Khanna calls it Mars

New York City is suffering from hazardous levels of pollution from wildfires in Canada, which have filled its sky with smoke and turned it orange. A thick veil of smoke shrouded the city’s famous skyline. Many people shared the saddening plight of the otherwise lively and fast-paced city. Among them was Indian chef and restaurateur Vikas Khanna. In a post, he compared New York to the Red Planet, Mars, as he shared a video of the sky turning orange. “This is 1 pm on Mars, I mean New York City,” he wrote. He added a crying emoji beside a fire sign.

Have a look:

Some social media users referred to New York City as an “apocalyptic hellscape.” Smoke, dark skies, and breathlessness also brought attention to other cities and towns from Maryland to New Hampshire, with low visibility and hazy skies reported by residents. New Yorkers shared photos of the eerie scene on social media.

Check out some comments:

“Smoke from the Canadian wildfires,” wrote a user.

“Delhi NCR people see this every year. Ppl should stop making a fuss about it,” commented a user describing the national capital’s plight.

A user warned: “Looks sureal…If it is due to wildfires… pls take care.. maskup.. the tiny particles in the air can cause harm.”

Another user commented, “दिल्ली को NY बनाना था, ये तो NY दिल्ली बन गया.” (Had to make Delhi like New York, here New York has become like Delhi.”

IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, shared the list of the World’s most polluted cities (historical data 2017-2022) based on annual average PM2.5 concentration (μg/m³). In it, Delhi (NCT) occupies the fourth spot. Currently, India is ranked eighth in the most polluted countries list, dropping three places from last year, followed by Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, and Bangladesh.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the US East Coast and Midwest on 7 June, leading to the most severe air pollution ever recorded in New York. As of Wednesday morning, New York City had the highest levels of air pollution among significant cities worldwide, surpassing even New Delhi, according to IQAir.

Many weather stations in the city reported visibility of less than a mile due to haze across the city. Ground stops were issued at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and LaGuardia Airport in New York City in the afternoon. This was due to low visibility from smoke and haze, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.

BBC said that tens of millions of people in North America are at risk of dangerous air quality as wildfires rage across the country.

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