Yankees-White Sox looks like dystopian hellscape with Canadian wildfires burning

Smoke from Canadian wildfires creates an eerie backdrop to Yankees-White Sox

The New York Yankees are set to take on the Chicago White Sox Tuesday night in the first game of a three-game series.

But the backdrop to Tuesday’s night game had a much different feel than a June evening the the Bronx.

Brendan Kuty, who covers the Yankees for The Athletic, shared a series of photos and videos from Yankee Stadium prior to first pitch. These images encapsulate the surreal feel in Yankee Stadium, and throughout much of the East Coast, as smoke from wildfires in Canada works its way southeast.

The smoke is coming from wildfires that have been raging in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Nova Scotia, and according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre 414 wildfires were raging in Canada, with 239 of those considered “out of control.”

In the United States, air quality warnings were posted from the Midwest down into the Mid-Atlantic. This image of the New York City skyline offers another glimpse at the smoke and haze working through the city:

According to this data, New York City currently has the worst air conditions of any major city on the planet:

Forecasters are calling for the conditions to continue throughout the week, including in the Mid-Atlantic:

The conditions even led to some cancellations. The Syracuse Mets, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, canceled their game scheduled for Tuesday night due to the conditions:

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, canceled their game as well due to the smoke:

Currently, forecasters predict that the conditions will ease in the Midwest and Northeast during the day on Wednesday. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that all people will experience adverse side effects from exposure to the unhealthy air, and further cautions that anyone with heart or lung disease, pregnant people, children and the elderly are most sensitive.

Those groups should consider moving all of their activities indoors until the air quality alert is lifted, the EPA recommended.