Toronto has the worst air quality in the world right now
An orange-alert air quality warning has been issued
An orange-alert air quality warning has been issued for Toronto, as smoke from wildfires in northwestern Ontario blankets the city in a haze.
According to IQAir, which provides global air pollution data, Toronto’s air quality is the worst in the world today, with a ranking of “unhealthy.”
Related: Your landlord now has to let you install air conditioning
An Environment Canada alert said that air quality issues may improve by Friday morning.
“During heavy smoke conditions, everyone’s health is at risk regardless of their age or health status,” the health agency’s alert said. “Limit time outdoors. Reschedule or cancel outdoor sports, activities and events.”
Toronto is also still under a heat warning, with today’s maximum temperature reaching as high as 36 degrees.
Related: Last week’s heat caused nearly 40 emergency room visits
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
