Live updates | Canada Wildfires

Follow along for live updates on wildfires in Canada creating a haze in parts of the U.S. and Canada and into northern Europe:

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What to know:

— Air pollution cloaks eastern U.S. for a second day. Here’s why there is so much smoke

— MLB, WNBA postpone games due to smoke from Canadian wildfires

— AP PHOTOS: From NYC’s skyline to Washington DC’s monuments, wildfire haze envelopes familiar sites

— How to stay healthy as smoke spreads from Canada wildfires

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WHITE HOUSE LAWN PRIDE MONTH EVENT POSTPONED

President Joe Biden has postponed a Pride Month celebration with thousands of guests on the White House lawn because of poor air quality in Washington, D.C., from the wildfires in Canada. The event scheduled for Thursday night will be held on Saturday instead. It’s intended to be a high-profile show of support for LGBTQ+ people at a time when the community feels under attack and the White House has little recourse to beat back state-level legislation against them.

Biden unveiled new initiatives Thursday intended to protect LGBTQ+ communities from attacks, help youths with mental health and homelessness, and counter book bans.

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FAA BRIEFLY STOPS SOME FLIGHTS TO NYC, PHILADELPHIA

The Federal Aviation Administration has briefly stopped some flights from heading to New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Philadelphia International Airport, and has slowed traffic there and at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

The FAA planned to accept more planes per hour as Thursday wore on. That kind of metering often occurs during bad weather.

Aviation navigation systems don’t work as well in smoke as they do during rain, so smoke increases the need for planes to slow down and be spaced farther apart, according to the FAA.

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POOR AIR QUALITY CANCELS RACES, GAMES

Poor air quality from wildfires in Canada has led to the cancellation of racing at Belmont Park and the Washington Nationals home Game against Arizona.

Thursday is the second straight day the continuing fires north of the border have impacted sports in the Northeastern United States.

Several Major League Baseball games were called off Wednesday. A National Women’s Soccer League game in New Jersey and an indoor WNBA game set for Brooklyn were also called off, as was a scheduled practice for the NFL’s New York Giants.

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HOCHUL: CRISIS CONTINUES, BUT NO SPIKE IN HOSPITAL VISITS

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says the haze caused by wildfires in Canada “continues to be a public Health crisis” producing the worst air quality since at least the 1960s.

State officials have not noticed a spike in people going to emergency rooms, though there were a “couple of hospitals, particularly in New York City; they’re reporting more people stopping in,” Hochul said during a news briefing Thursday.

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BLUMENAUER SAYS HAZE A ‘STARK REMINDER’ THAT ‘CLIMATE CRISIS IS HERE’

Rep. Earl Blumenauer has called the smoky haze blanketing the East Coast a repeat of “suffocating conditions that have become a regular occurrence” in his home state of Oregon and throughout the West.

The Democrat said it's “yet another stark reminder that the climate crisis is here. We ought to treat it like the emergency it is.”

Blumenauer and other liberal lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,and Sen. Bernie Sanders, on Thursday urged President Joe Biden to declare a national climate emergency and unleash federal resources to prepare for and mitigate the worst impacts of climate-fueled disasters such as wildfires, heat waves, floods and hurricanes.

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SPAIN, PORTUGAL, FRANCE SEND FIREFIGHTERS TO CANADA

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says Spain, Portugal and France are sending a total of 280 firefighters to Canada.

With smoke reaching Europe, the event is drawing attention from fire analysts as far afield as Spain. The Mediterranean country combats wildfires each summer and is bracing for a difficult summer amid a prolonged drought and record-hot spring.

Spain said Thursday that it would send 80 to 100 firefighters to Canada. Neighboring Portugal, which has a record of deadly fires as well, has pledged another 100 firefighters.

Wildfire analyst Jordi Pagès for the Barcelona-based Pau Costa Foundation, a global non-profit organization dedicated to wildfire awareness, said climate change is fostering weather conditions that favor wildfires at increasingly higher latitudes.

“In the last 10 years we have seen an increase on a global scale of the number of massive fires erupting simultaneously,” Pagès told The Associated Press by videoconference from his office in rural northeast Spain. “There is a fire campaign active in Canada right now, but also in Russia, with important fires in both areas."

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AIR QUALITY STATEMENTS DROPPED IN OTTAWA

Environment Canada has dropped special air quality statements for Canada’s capital of Ottawa, but residents are still being encouraged to limit outdoor activities.

Air quality statements warning of high levels of pollution from forest fire smoke remain in effect in parts of six Canadian provinces. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre reports more than half of the 440 fires burning in nine provinces and two territories are out of control.

One hundred and sixty-three of the fires are in Quebec.

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POOR AIR QUALITY CLOSES ZOOS

Poor air quality has forced zoos in several U.S. cities to close or reduce their hours.

At the National Zoo, a popular tourist attraction in Washington, D.C., officials said Thursday that they are taking the action “for the safety of our animals, our staff and our guests.” The city’s Department of Energy and Environment has said the air quality forecast is in the purple, or very unhealthy, range.

All four of New York City’s zoos will be closed for the day so the animals can stay indoors. The Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the city’s zoos, said no animals were showing adverse effects.

The Toronto Zoo shortened its hours Thursday for the safety of the animals and its guests.

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AIR QUALITY PROMPTS NYC ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING CANCELATION

Poor air quality prompted New York City officials to cancel alternate side parking, sparing car owners from having to go outside and move their vehicles from one side of the street to the other. All city-sponsored outdoor events were canceled and zoos were closed.

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SMOKE FROM CANADIAN WILDFIRES FORECAST TO REACH NORWAY

Norwegian officials said the smoke from wildfires in Canada that has enveloped parts of the U.S. and Canada in a thick haze is expected to pour into Norway on Thursday.

Atmosphere and climate scientists with the Norwegian Climate and Environmental Research Institute used a forecast model to predict how the smoke would travel through the atmosphere.

The smoke has moved over Greenland and Iceland since June 1st, and observations in southern Norway have recorded increasing concentrations of aerosolized particles, the independent research institution said.