Wildfire smoke hits New York again: ‘We are truly the first generation to feel the real effects of climate change,’ Governor Hochul says

Smoke from the wildfires burning in Canada is blowing south and causing dangerous air quality in New York state for the second time in a month.

On Wednesday at 12:40 p.m. EST, New York Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted that air quality health advisories were in effect for the entire state of New York.

“Similar to what we saw a short time ago, the air quality is deteriorating very quickly in our state as a result of the Canadian wildfires,” Hochul said in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. “That’s the unfortunate news that we’re experiencing. I would certainly say we did not deal with this in the years past. If you want to know the effects of climate change, you’re going to feel it tomorrow in real time.”

“This is not something that we’re talking about future generations dealing with,” Hochul said during a press conference on Tuesday. “We are truly the first generation to feel the real effects of climate change.”