Cotton is one of more than 100 million people across the Midwest, Northeast and mid-Atlantic breathing in dangerous air brought by thick, choking plumes of smoke from wildfires in Canada.
—
Dalia Faheid,
CNN Money,
18 July 2026
The trend, which was popular on TikTok at the time, involves intentionally choking oneself or holding one’s breath until passing out.
The wildfires have also generated smothering smoke clouds across Canadian and US cities while inflicting hazardous air pollution upon more than 100 million people.
—
Jeremy Hsu,
ArsTechnica,
17 July 2026
Until that breathtaking final 15 minutes, Egypt largely nullified this strategy by packing the centre themselves and smothering those central spaces.
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