A traffic officer wears an N95 mask in Times Square amid a smoky haze from wildfires in Canada on June 7, 2023 local time in New York City. New York topped the list of most polluted major cities in the world as smoke from the fires continues to blanket the East Coast of the US. Photo: VCG

"It's not Mars, it's the US!" Pictures of New York blanketed by yellow haze have widely circulated on Chinese social media on Thursday and triggered rounds of astonishment, criticism over US' deteriorating environment, as New York's air quality has become the worst in the entire world. 

However, some US media used this "losing-face" moment to smear China for its pollution in the past, which prompted Chinese netizens to fight back with pictures of clear-sky Chinese metropolises, advising the US to learn from China's great achievements in improving air quality in the past years. 

Environment specialists, however, are less optimistic about US' ability to learn. They believed that due to US' chaotic leadership and bipartisan tussle, Americans should be prepared for frequent visits of toxic air. 

Smoke from the wildfires raging across Canada has created a thick haze across New York City's iconic skyline, nearly fading out the Statue of Liberty and the high-rises. The quality of air has become so bad during the past few days that on Wednesday local time, the city, also called Big Apple, had some of the worst air pollution statistics in the world, US media reported.

US media, citing data from Swiss air quality technology company IQAir, said the city of New York currently has an Air Quality Index of 160, categorized as an "unhealthy" amount, meaning that some people may experience health effects.

Apart from New York, cities in Massachusetts and Connecticut states were also affected. Tens of millions of people in the US were under air quality alerts on Wednesday, according to The Guardian. 

Pictures of an apocalyptic New York also went viral on Chinese social media platforms. "It really looks like doomsday of an empire," said one netizen. 

"I coughed so hard that I could not even fall asleep … I cover my mouth and nose with damp towel even at home," Vicky Luo, a Chinese who works in New York, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

What annoys her more, according to Luo, is that some of her American colleagues asked her if the air pollution in New York is seen normal in Beijing. "I immediately showed them the pictures my friend took in Beijing in recent days, the clear sky and pink sunset glow and then they went silent," said Luo.

When the US caught a glimpse of severe air pollution, its media, however, stopped short of serious reflections. Instead they started another round of smear campaign on air quality elsewhere to divert the simmering public anger. 

A piece published in the New York Times on Wednesday read, "Cities across Asia, Africa and Latin America have been so polluted for so long that air-quality readings like the ones expected across parts of New York state on Wednesday … would not be seen as particular cause for alarm."

However, Chinese netizens disagree. They posted pictures of clear-sky metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, which would be impossible without China's endeavors in addressing its air quality problems in recent years.

In 2022, the average density of PM2.5, a key indicator of air pollution, decreased 3.3 percent year-on-year in China, said Zhang Hengde, deputy head of the National Meteorological Center, at a press conference on June 2.

In sharp contrast, the air quality in the US and Canada has been deteriorating in recent years, partly due to frequent bushfires, Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, told the Global Times on Thursday. Ma said the east coast of the US was rarely affected by wildfires before.

According to the latest outlook from US' National Interagency Fire Center, the northern tier of the country could have a higher-than-normal threat of wildfires this summer. This follows several notable fires across Canada in recent months and recent warmth in the northern states in the past week.

Success hard to copy 

Chinese netizens jokingly suggested US to take China's experience in addressing air pollution as reference, to combat its own worsening air quality.

However, China's experience is hard to copy for the US, Yang Fuqiang, a senior advisor on climate change and energy transition at the Energy Research Institute at Peking University, told the Global Times on Thursday. "China has made top-down efforts for years to address its pollution in the past. The central and local governments march together toward the same goal, with continuous environmental policies." 

The US usually flip-flops its environment policies when a different political party takes office, Yang said, and its bipartisan tussles disrupt the passing of environmental protection bills. 

In March, the US House of Representatives passed an energy bill aimed at expanding mining and fossil fuel production in the country that would repeal sections of a landmark climate change legislation that President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022, US media reported.

The increased frequency of wildfires, fueled partly by warmer climate, has highlighted the urgency of tackling global warming. Yet related cooperation between China and the US, the world's two biggest emitters, has been frayed in recent years, mainly because US has politicized climate issues to confront China, said experts.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the US has always made fanfare of negotiating with China on climate issue, while showing no sincerity in action.

"How can China and the US work together when the US constantly tries to suppress China's clean energy development by making up lies about China's Xinjiang region?" he asked.

Every extreme climate disaster, including New York choking on smog, makes the public more aware of the crisis, said Ma Jun. "Now we can say the planet is on fire. At this crucial juncture, countries should enhance cooperation to tackle the climate changes that is of global concern."

The US always boasts itself to be global leader on slowing climate change, so hopefully the fact that its most glamorous city engulfed by smoke from a wildfire can wake up the country to roll out substantial policies and show sincerity in cooperating with China on the issue, said experts.