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U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Friday to raise tariffs on Canada to cover the cost of wildfire smoke pollution that has choked large parts of the United States.
Dense wildfire smoke billowing from Canada and northern Minnesota has triggered unhealthy air quality alerts across the United States.
As of Saturday, there were 937 active fires in Canada, most of them burning out of control, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System.
"This is Willful Negligence, and becoming a yearly occurrence, costing the United States Billions of Dollars," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He said the "cost of this pollution must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying."
Trump accused Canada of "not properly maintaining" its forests and failing to carry out "basic Forest Management and Debris Removal."
He said he would call Prime Minister Mark Carney "to find out what they are going to do about" the smoke.
Canada's emergency management minister, Eleanor Olszewski, said Canada and the United States were in "constant contact," citing their "long history of working together to fight wildfires."
She said Canada has invested $12 billion in forest sustainability and fire prevention since 2020.
Detroit remained the most polluted city in the world Friday, according to air quality tracker IQAir.
Washington and Chicago were also among the cities affected, with officials warning residents against spending unnecessary time outdoors.
The pollution triggered concern over Sunday's World Cup final at an open stadium in New Jersey.
In New Jersey and New York, the metro area was experiencing air that could be unhealthy for sensitive groups, an improvement after smog Thursday left the Manhattan skyline barely visible.
The National Weather Service (NWS), however, warned that smoke could thicken overnight into Saturday morning.
Tournament organizers are "monitoring closely," White House World Cup task force executive director Andrew Giuliani told a briefing.
Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the NWS, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that winds over the Great Lakes could push more smoke into the Northeast, keeping skies hazy.
He said forecasts for the region still pointed to some improvement.
"I don't believe that this should be as impactful as if you might be playing a game today," Mullinax said.
Joel Dreessen, an air quality forecaster for the state of Maryland, said the issue for Sunday's game was whether more smoke moves south after weekend storm systems.
"Some of the models are starting to indicate that we'll start to pull down some smoke," he told AFP.
In cities across the Midwest and Northeast, people wore masks outdoors to filter the dangerous air.
In New York, libraries and train stations were handing them out for free.
Chris Carlsten, who studies the health effects of wildfire smoke at the University of British Columbia, told AFP that fine pollution particles from wildfires are particularly harmful to the lungs, while vehicle pollution tends to have a stronger effect on the heart.
He said smoke plumes can carry wood and vegetation debris, as well as paint, plastic or metal.
As smoke travels, it undergoes "photochemical aging," a series of reactions that Carlsten said "seem to make, from everything we understand in the chemistry, the aerosol more toxic."
The Upper Midwest, closer to the fires, has faced especially bad air, with parts of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin recording air quality readings deep in the "hazardous" range for days.
Advocates have stressed the connection between repeated wildfire smoke episodes and climate change.
Mark Parrington, a scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, told AFP that climate change is creating conditions for a longer fire season, with higher surface air temperatures and lower soil moisture.
When fires ignite under those conditions, he said, they can become large and persistent.
"When there's an ignition, we see these really large-scale, persistent burning where these fires can burn for weeks and weeks at a time through summer," Parrington said.
The fires worsened Friday in Canada, especially in Ontario, according to local authorities.
Fires in Ontario have not caused any casualties, though several remote communities have been evacuated as dozens of aircraft battle the blazes.
Meanwhile, 16 active fires were burning in the Superior National Forest on Minnesota's border with Canada.
"The forecast for erratic weather, shifting winds and the potential for isolated damaging wind gusts and thunderstorms will be a challenge for firefighting efforts," the U.S. Forest Service said.
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