Air quality in Georgia: Code Orange Alert issued for Friday

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A Code Orange Alert has been issued for the Greater Metro Atlanta area on Friday as Canadian wildfire smoke continues to cause a mix of pollutants throughout parts of the United States.

More than 400 fires are burning across Canada that have left 20,000 people displaced. The U.S. has sent more than 600 firefighters and equipment to Canada.

New York City has had the worst air quality of anywhere in the world and people there are being urged to wear K-95 masks.

The same smoke caused smokey air conditions from Detroit down to the Carolinas.

In Georgia, we won’t have near the impact others are seeing. Parts of North Georgia saw just a haze on Thursday.

With the smoke filtering southward, in combination with a building ridge of higher pressure, we could see poorer air quality in the metro area on Friday.

A Code Orange Alert means the outdoor air quality is likely to be unhealthy for some people, that’s according to AirNow.gov.

Children and people with heart and lung conditions are advised to limit significant time spent outdoors during the late afternoon and early evening hours when ozone concentrations are especially high.

RELATED CONTENT:

• Social media, duct tape are helping people make DIY air purifiers to filter out wildfire smoke
• A third day of smoky air gives millions in US East Coast, Canada a new view of wildfire threat
• Senate committee scrutinizes federal response to wildfires with Eastern Seaboard up in smoke
• Millions breathing hazardous air as smoke from Canadian wildfires streams south over US
• MLB, WNBA postpone games due to smoke from Canadian wildfires
• Canada wildfires are leading to air-quality alerts in US. Here’s how to stay safe

Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.