Justine Calma

The Verge snapped some photos of the apocalyptic scene in the Big Apple yesterday — from amber skies to desolate streets. To stay updated, you can follow the EPA’s air quality monitoring tool AirNow. Its forecast for Thursday is still bad — not quite a Code Maroon (hopefully) but a Code Red for “unhealthy” air.

The Northeast US is blanketed in smoke that drifted in from wildfires in Canada. The pollution is so bad, New York City briefly ranked as the most polluted city in the world. And particle pollution from smoke can be up to 10 times more harmful to human health than soot from other sources like tailpipes and factories, research has found.