According to the website of “AQ Air”, a company specializing in air pollution and quality monitoring technology, New York was the world’s most polluted city on Tuesday evening, while smoke from Canadian forest fires covered the city in a haze.

The Swiss agency added that air pollution levels in the city were in the “unhealthy” range, higher than those in the Indian capital New Delhi and the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

As reported by the “Bloomberg” news agency, other cities in North America have been hit by smoke from unprecedented wildfires, including Detroit.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement earlier yesterday that an air quality health advisory had been issued for all five boroughs, with expectations that the weather would improve and then return to worse.

The U.S. Air Quality Index for New York reached 222 on its hourly scale of zero to 500 yesterday morning, placing the air in the “very unhealthy” category.

If burning rates continue at this pace, Canada is on track to record its worst wildfire season ever. Government officials have said that around 3.3 million hectares have been burnt so far. About 413 fires are currently burning.

• Other North American cities were affected by smoke from unprecedented wildfires, including Detroit.