On U.S. East Coast, smoky skies latest sign of a changing climate

The news: This week, the East Coast of the United States is grappling with something that other places around the world are all too familiar with: wildfire smoke.

Fires raging across eastern Canada are choking the skies from Ottawa to New York to Washington and beyond with dangerous levels of smoke. More than 400 wildfires were burning in Canada on Thursday, according to the Canadian government — with most of them considered to be burning out of control, The New York Times reported. 

The novelty of New York City landmarks shrouded in a thick haze has dominated headlines in the United States the past few days — but it may not stay a novelty for long: Americans should start expecting more of these episodes thanks to climate change. 

“Many of us on the East Coast of the United States have largely been able to avoid or ignore negative climate change impacts in recent years,” noted Emily Nyrop, a climate change expert at Conservation International who is based in Boston. “But these last few days have starkly illuminated for many on the East Coast that none of us is immune…