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ER Visits for Asthma in NYC Soared as Wildfire Smoke Blanketed the Region

"Smoky days can double emergency hospital visits for asthma, which disproportionately affects Black and Latino children. In New York, the Bronx was especially hard hit."

"Morgen Bromell, a web designer in Brooklyn, had plans to visit their cousin in Los Angeles at the end of the summer, but last week air quality in New York City was so bad they decided to move their flight earlier to escape the smoke.

“I called [Delta] and said my asthma is really terrible, can I please change my ticket?” By the time Bromell finally left New York City, they had had a migraine for two days, and their asthma was so bad they had to wear a mask indoors.

They were not alone. Last Wednesday, New York City hospitals experienced the highest number of ER visits for asthma-related conditions for all of 2023. That same afternoon, the city was choked by abnormal levels of wildfire smoke from Canada, reaching 366 on the air quality index—24 times the World Health Organization recommended exposure guideline. It briefly had the worst air quality of any city in the world."

Gina Jiménez reports for Inside Climate News June 14, 2023.

Source: Inside Climate News, 06/15/2023