Did climate change play a role in New York City's unprecedented poor air quality?
NEW YORK -- New York City had the worst air quality ever recorded here Wednesday.
CBS2's Nick Caloway spoke to experts about the role climate change played in this dangerous air.
Professor Greg Pope says normally, there's a great view of the Manhattan skyline from Montclair State University's campus, but on Thursday, it was obscured and blanketed in a white haze.
"We have seen this before, a couple years ago, distant fires. But this was worse," said Pope, who teaches earth and environmental studies.
The smoke that descended on the east coast this week is doing more than just blocking views.
"It's been really stressful because I've been coughing and everything," said Caldwell, New Jersey, resident Sheeka Anderson.
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Many are asking what's causing this unprecedented problem.
"This, coming from wildfires in Canada being blown into our area, is unprecedented in the records I've looked at going back more than 50 years," said David Robinson, a professor at Rutgers Climate Institute and New Jersey's state climatologist.
He says there are several factors contributing to the historic haze.
"We do know that Canada was particularly warm in the month of May. Snow cover over North America was at a record low level going back at least 50 years. And with that, the ground dried up and that promoted the forest fires coming to play," he said.
Combine that with stubborn weather pattern that keep pushing smoke to the east coast.
"So there's weather events conspired to do this. But there is that underlying ... climate change signal as well," Robinson said.
The wind will eventually give us some relief, but Pope says until the fires up north are under control, New York City could still be affected.
"So it may go on for a while this summer. And it's possible if we get the right wind directions, we could see this again," he said.
Experts say, thanks in part to climate change, the wildfire season up in Canada started early this year and has been more destructive than usual.
