Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images
People look out at a hazy Manhattan skyline from the Rockefeller Center viewing deck Friday, June 30, in New York.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
Smoke from wildfires in Canada shrouds the view of the Statue of Liberty on Friday in New York.
Gary Hershorn/Corbis News/Getty Images
The setting sun is shrouded by smoke from Canadian wildfires in this photo taken from New York's 42nd Street on Thursday, June 29.
Gene J. Puskar/AP
Haze hangs over downtown Pittsburgh and PNC Park as fans take their seats before a Major League Baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres on June 29.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Traffic makes its way across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Stevensville, Maryland, on June 29.
Megan Smith/USA Today Network
Smoke and haze is seen from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, June 27.
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images
People in Chicago walk along the shoreline of Lake Michigan on June 27.
Cpl Marc-Andre Leclerc/Canadian Forces/Reuters
A Canadian soldier flies over a wildfire near Mistissini, Quebec, on June 12.
Xinhua/Shutterstock
Wildfires burn in British Columbia in this aerial photo released by the BC Wildfire Service on June 9.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
A jogger wears a face mask in Washington, DC, on June 9.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
A man wears a protective face mask while walking through Times Square in New York on June 8.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
An airplane takes off June 8 from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Traffic heads into Washington, DC, under hazy conditions on June 8.
Emmalee Reed/CNN
Smoke from Canadian wildfires obscures the visibility in Pittsburgh on June 8.
Hannah Beier/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Buildings in the Philadelphia skyline are shrouded in smoke on June 8.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
A cyclist rides under a blanket of haze that was partially obscuring the US Capitol on June 8.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
A woman in New York City wears a mask during the morning rush hour on June 8. The city saw slight air quality improvements, but levels were still considered "very unhealthy" for residents.
Mike Segar/Reuters
The One World Trade Center tower is seen in New York, shortly after sunrise on June 8.
John Minchillo/AP
A starting gate is unused at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on June 8.
Seth Wenig/AP
Transit employee Shanita Hancle, left, hands out masks to commuters at a subway station in New York on June 8.
Matt Rourke/AP
The Philadelphia skyline is shrouded in haze on June 8.
Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A smoky haze obscures M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on June 8.
Alberta Wildfire/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Firefighters battle a wildfire in Evansburg, Alberta, on June 8.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
A person on the New York City subway wears a mask as smoky haze blankets a neighborhood on June 7.
Matt Slocum/AP
Workers chain up seats at Citizens Bank Park after the Philadelphia Phillies postponed a baseball game because of poor air quality on June 7. The New York Yankees also postponed a game that night.
Amr Alfiky/Reuters
Two men stand by the waterfront in Brooklyn, New York, on June 7.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
Smoky haze affects the visibility of the Empire State Building in New York on June 7.
John Meore/The Journal News/USA Today Network
A man in Piermont, New York, attempts to photograph the sun obscured by smoke on June 7.
Leah Millis/Reuters
Smoke blankets the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the National Mall on June 7.
Seth Wenig/AP
A person in Fort Lee, New Jersey, talks on the phone near the George Washington Bridge on June 7.
Peter Carr/The Journal News/USA Today Network
Smoke obscures the view from the New York State Thruway, looking north from West Nyack on June 7.
Yuki Iwamura/AP
People wear face masks as they walk in New York's Herald Square on June 7.
Mike Segar/Reuters
A woman jogs along the Hudson River as a smoky haze hangs over the New York City skyline shortly after sunrise on June 7.
Kareem Elgazzar/The Cincinnati Enquirer/USA Today Network
A couple sits for lunch in Cincinnati on June 6. Smoke from the Canadian wildfires had drifted to the city, causing the air to appear hazy.
Carlos Osorio/Reuters
People at Toronto's CN Tower take photos of the smoky city on June 6.
Frank Franklin II/AP
The sky is discolored during a New York Yankees baseball game on June 6.
Merrily Cassidy/Cape Cod Times/USA Today Network
A smoky sky provides a muted backdrop June 6 at Rock Harbor in Massachusetts. Skies over Cape Cod were filled with smoke from the wildfires in Canada.
Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
People in New York wear masks as they ride bikes on June 6. That morning, the city briefly had the world's worst levels of air pollution.
Amr Alfiky/Reuters
The Statue of Liberty is obscured by the air pollution in New York on June 6.
Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP
Wildfire smoke engulfs downtown Ottawa on June 5.
B.C. Wildfire Service via Reuters
Smoke billows upwards from a planned ignition by firefighters who were tackling the Donnie Creek Complex wildfire south of Fort Nelson, British Columbia, on June 3.
Communications Nova Scotia via Reuters
Firefighter Jason Rock sprays hot spots in the Birchtown area while tackling wildfires in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, on June 3.
NASA
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photo of wildfire smoke near Shelburne, Nova Scotia, on May 29. Human-caused climate change has exacerbated the hot and dry conditions that allow wildfires to ignite and grow.
B.C. Wildfire Service via Reuters
Smoke rises from a wildfire in Fort Nelson on May 27.
Kamloops Fire Rescue via Reuters
Firefighters stand on a truck while battling a blaze near Fort St. John, British Columbia, on May 14.
Anne-Sophie Thill/AFP via Getty Images
BJ Fuchs, a farmer who has lost some land and had to move his cattle due to the wildfires, stands in Shining Bank, Alberta, on May 11.
CNN  — 

The photos and videos out of the Northeast look like scenes from “Mad Max,” as a monstrous cloud of smoke spewed by Quebec’s wildfires engulfed communities.

00:52 - Source: CNN
See timelapse of NYC disappearing into cloud of wildfire smoke

The air is an eerie shade of orange and the visibility is low. Distant buildings that you would otherwise be able to see on a clear day are blotted out by the murky haze.

But why is it orange – and not white, gray or some other color?

Wildfire smoke turns the air orange for the same reason clear air makes the sky look blue – it has to do with what kind of tiny particles are in the air, how many there are and what wavelength color they block.

Think back to the days in school when you learned about ROYGBIV, all the colors of the rainbow. Sunlight contains all of those colors. As it passes through the Earth’s atmosphere, the sun’s light hits all of the molecules and particles in the air.

The colors we ultimately see are whatever wavelengths are left over after they’ve interacted with those particles. Wildfire smoke blocks the shorter wavelengths – like yellow, green and blue – leaving just the red and orange to pass through.

01:54 - Source: CNN
New Yorkers react to smoky skies

This effect is even more pronounced in the morning and evening, when the sun is low in the sky. The light has more atmosphere to pass through before it gets to our eyes, which amplifies the colors and how thick the smoke looks in the air.

Interactive: Track the air quality across the US

Major metro areas had air quality indexes ranging from 200 to 300 – which is considered “very unhealthy,” according to government website AirNow.gov.

The enormous cloud of pollution could cause long-term health effects, depending on the individual and their amount of exposure, experts have warned. And officials have urged many residents to stay indoors. Smoke conditions could last through at least Thursday.