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The smoke wafting down in the United States is not as severe as the smoke and reduction in air quality seen from the 2023 Canadian wildfire smoke that turned the skies over some major cities, including New York City, orange. Excessive dry conditions combined with record-setting wildfire activity in Canada during the 2023 wildfire season produced dense wildfire smoke that dropped the air quality in numerous cities to \"very unhealthy” and “hazardous\" levels, far worse than what is expected from this week’s wildfire smoke wafting down from Canada.

\"PHOTO:
ABC News
PHOTO: Canada Wildfire Smoke forecast for Monday.
>

The largest wildfires in Canada are burning in remote, hard-to-reach areas across Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, according to Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. So far this year, 3,991 wildfires have broken out in Canada, burning more than 6.7 million acres, according to the centre.

\"The 2023 Canadian wildfire event emphasized how important communication is when wildfire smoke may impact Michigan’s communities,\" Annette Switzer, EGLE’s Air Quality Division director, said in a statement. \"We want to ensure residents are informed and know how to protect themselves and their families.\"

Air quality health advisories have also been issued across New York, where \"unhealthy\" air was recorded on Monday morning in the Eastern Lake Ontario and Western New York regions, according to data from AirNow.

\"PHOTO:
ABC News
PHOTO: Canada Wildfire Smoke forecast for Tuesday.
>

On Long Island, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services is urging residents to be cautious when exercising outdoors.

\"Fine particles can travel deeply into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs. Exposure to fine particles can cause short-term health effects such as eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath. Exposure to fine particles can also affect lung function and worsen medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease,\" the agency said in a statement.

\"PHOTO:
Chad Hipolito/AP
PHOTO: A helicopter flies by the Wesley Ridge wildfire near Cameron Lake where an out-of-control fire continues to burn near Coombs, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 3, 2025.
>

Those living under alerts should limit outside exertion and keep their windows closed, officials said. Alerts may remain in place through Tuesday with smoke still lingering.

Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., sent a letter on Monday to Michael MacDonald, a member of the Canadian Senate and chairman of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, urging the Canadian government to \"take more active steps to manage and mitigate wildfire risk.\"

\"These events have resulted in widespread air quality alerts, school closures, outdoor activity cancellations, and serious public health risks throughout Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula,\" wrote Bergman, a member of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. \"The effects on public health have been especially troubling. Hospitals and clinics across my district are seeing higher rates of respiratory distress, particularly among vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and those with preexisting conditions.\"

Bergman added, \"The combination of chronic exposure and limited local control over the source of the problem has left many of my constituents feeling frustrated and forgotten.\"

Bergman suggested in his letter that Canada should increase measures to better control wildfires by thinning forest lands and reducing fuels by conducting more prescribed burns.

\"These are well-established practices that could greatly reduce the scale and intensity of wildfires and the transboundary smoke that follows,\" Bergman wrote. \"The science and tools exist; what’s needed is the will to act with urgency.\"

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