WThe Major League Baseball (MLB) game between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday had to be postponed to a later date due to high air pollution due to the devastating forest fires in eastern Canada. “The bad air quality is the reason for the postponement of the game,” announced the club from the US capital.
Other baseball games, as well as basketball and women’s soccer matches, also fell victim to soot in the air. The prestigious Belmont Stakes horse race, which is scheduled to take place in New York on Saturday, is also at great risk. According to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the race will be canceled if the air quality is too bad. “It will be a last-minute decision,” Hochul said.
Optimism in Formula 1
In the eastern Canadian city of Halifax in the province of Nova Scotia, forest fires have been raging for almost two weeks, and thousands of residents have already had to evacuate their homes. A state of emergency has been declared for the city of 430,000 residents. The wind drove the sooty air south, Washington is about 1300 kilometers southwest of Halifax.
However, the staging of the Formula 1 race in Montreal is currently not in jeopardy. “The risk remains low and the air quality in Montreal is good,” said a spokesman for the racing series. There is currently a lively exchange with the organizers, the situation is “different than in other parts of the country and in the north of the USA”, it said more than a week before the Grand Prix on June 18th.
The forest fires are happening around 800 kilometers from Montreal and have had some impact on the city in the past few days. Recently, however, the air quality has improved significantly and is back to a normal level, it said. The situation will continue to be closely monitored in the coming days. The eighth round of the Formula 1 season is to take place at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
