It’s a double whammy.
As wildfire smoke from Canada and the Great Lakes region blankets New York, experts warn that scorching temperatures gripping the city could make the already hazardous air even more dangerous to breathe.
“If we’re comparing it to cigarettes, it’s like you’re sitting in a closed room where everyone is smoking and you’re inhaling all of it,” Dr. Ahmad Abu Homoud, director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Center at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, told The Post.
The Big Apple’s health advisory remains in effect Thursday after the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) reached Level Red this morning — a designation considered unhealthy for everyone, especially sensitive groups.
“The combination of dangerous heat and unhealthy air is a serious threat to New Yorkers’ health,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a press release Wednesday, urging residents to limit time outdoors as much as possible.
“We have made free KN95 masks available at hundreds of locations citywide, including libraries, police precincts, and a number of firehouses,” he said, directing residents to on.nyc.gov/freemask to find out where they can pick one up.
But escaping the haze isn’t as simple as heading indoors. Experts warn that, in some cases, the air inside your home can be just as polluted — or even worse — than what’s outside.
Here’s everything you need to know about the current conditions, how they could affect your health and what you can do to stay safe.
What is the AQI — and what does it say about NYC?
The Air Quality Index, or AQI, is the government’s system for measuring how clean or polluted the air is.
“It looks at several different factors, including ozone and other small particulate matter called PM2.5, which is probably what’s being most impacted by these wildfires,” said Dr. Megan Conroy, a pulmonologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
AQI levels above 100 can put people with underlying health conditions at risk during prolonged outdoor exposure, Conroy explained.
“Anything above 150 on that scale is considered dangerous for everyone and should be avoided in total,” she said.
As of Thursday afternoon, the AQI in Midtown Manhattan was 102. Forecasts show levels could climb to 200 later in the day.
You can keep tabs on current air quality levels at AirNow.gov, and the nubmers are also available in most weather apps.
Why is the heat making the air quality worse?
“Heat traps a lot of particulate matter closer to the ground where we are,” Conroy said.
“The wildfire is compounding on top of what would already have been circumstances to be at risk for lower air quality,” she explained. “Then if you add in the general city pollution, it’s kind of a one-two hit.”
High temperatures add fuel to the problem, too.
“The heat itself can make you breathe faster and make the air thinner,” Abu Homoud said. “That can exacerbate the amount of particulate matter that goes into your lungs.”
Who’s at risk?
“People with asthma are going to be at the highest risk for increased symptoms and hospitalizations following this air quality,” Conroy said.
“If you’re over the age of 65 or you have underlying heart or lung disease, it’s also going to put you at pretty significant risk, along with pregnant women.”
Children are also more vulnerable to the effects of exposure.
“Their lungs are still developing — especially toddlers and babies — and having significant exposure can actually make them develop asthma or bronchitis, and it can be chronic, so they could have it as an adult,” Abu Homoud said.
And the effects can come quickly. For people with asthma or a lung condition like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Abu Homoud said just minutes of exposure can trigger an attack.
“For kids and the elderly, it’s usually hours until you see some effect on their breathing.”
Do you have to worry about air quality if you’re healthy?
For most healthy adults, brief exposure is unlikely to cause any serious health issues, but it can certainly lead to unpleasant side effects — like the ones you might experience in Dr. Homoud’s analogy about sitting in a room of smokers. Thinking sore throat, watery or itchy eyes, a runny nose or cough.
The risk also depends on how long someone is outside and what they are doing.
“If you’re exercising outside, you are going to be breathing faster, breathing deeper, and therefore taking more air into your lungs,” Conroy said. “People who work outdoors, who may have limited options to reduce their exposure, are also particularly at risk.”
What’s the worst that could happen — and when should you call the doctor?
“If you are healthy and without underlying lung disease, you may not experience anything from it,” Conroy said. And if you have some mild symptoms, they will likely fade on their own.
But for higher-risk groups, conditions can become more serious.
“They will feel tightness in the chest, wheezing and increased phlegm production,” Abu Homoud said. “Those are the three main signs that will say, ‘OK, call your doctor.’”
At extremely poor AQI levels, such as 200, even healthy people could develop complications.
“If any of these symptoms are worsening despite management at home or very significant shortness of breath, seek emergency care,” Conroy said.
What should I be doing to stay safe outdoors?
“If you need to go outside, wear a tight-fitting N95 face mask,” Conroy said. “Other masks that are not N95 or higher quality are not going to provide adequate protection from this degree of particulate matter.”
She also recommends limiting outdoor activity — especially strenuous exercise — to reduce the amount of polluted air you breathe in.
If you have flexibility on when you head outside, Conroy said air quality may be slightly better in the early morning or evening, when temperatures are lower.
Is being inside safe?
“If you’re closing the windows and you have a good filter and HVAC system, then you should be fine,” Abu Homoud said.
But simply being indoors is not enough.
“Staying indoors with the windows open in a limited space is actually going to expose you to a higher dose of particulate matter than the open air outside,” Abu Homoud warned.
“That’s why we recommend closing the windows and keeping the AC running, so the HVAC filter actually absorbs as much as possible,” he said. “The smaller the space you’re in, the higher the exposure dose.”
What you do while inside can also affect your air quality.
“Doing things like cooking indoors with gas sources, lighting candles and smoking indoors — all of these can worsen indoor air quality,” Conroy said. “So trying not to add that in these certain circumstances can be helpful.”
