We begin tonight with a dangerous situation. Hazardous air quality alerts from the Northeast to Chicago and as far as South as Atlanta. Health officials are warning tens of millions of Americans in more than a dozen states to remain indoors. New York City tonight tops the list of cities with the worst air quality in the world as Manhattan’s famous skyline disappeared behind a thick fog that made America’s largest city look like the surface of Mars. And then take a look at this on this map from EPA. The darker the area, the more hazardous the air is to your health. Well, how dangerous is it? If you are outside right here in the nation’s capital, that’s equivalent to smoking a cigarette an hour. And the smoke from those Canadian wildfires led to ground stops and flight delays at New York area airports. Plus, the match-up between the Yankees and the White Sox was postponed tonight.

What explains this eerie scene why this skyline disappears is tiny, tiny particles that are saturated in the air. Those particles are so small that can go into your lungs and potentially cause long-term damages of your body cannot expel them naturally. That’s why the state of New York is giving out a million N95 masks like this one and recommending that people use them. Today, the sun rose over the Northeast shrouded in smoke, haze covering Manhattan skyline and bridges and the Washington Monument in DC. Smoke was seen as far as South as Tennessee and even from space. It’s from an intense start to Canadian’s wildfire season fueled by high temperatures and dry conditions. The total number of acres destroyed the first half of the year there, almost twelve times the average. Time lapse video shows downtown Manhattan this morning. By mid afternoon the thick smoke cast an eerie glow, making the skyline barely visible. School districts in the Northeast canceled outdoor activities today. To protect yourself health officials advise staying indoors, closing your windows and using an air purifier if you have one. And if you are driving, recirculate the air in car. Doctors say if you feel chest pain, if you feel like you need to cough more, or are coughing more and if you are short of breath, definitely seek medical attention right away.