[ad_1]
Chicago: Smoke from wildfires raging across Canada is creating curtains of haze and rising air quality Concerns throughout the Great Lakes region and parts of the central and eastern United States.
The EPA’s AirNow.gov showed that parts of Illinois, Michigan and southern Wisconsin had the worst air quality in the US on Tuesday afternoon, and air quality in Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee was rated “extremely unhealthy.”
In Minnesota, a record 23rd air quality alert was issued from Tuesday through late Wednesday night for much of the state, as smoky skies obscured the skylines of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has issued an air quality alert for the entire state. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources also issued an air quality advisory for the state.
In Chicago, officials are urging young people, older adults and residents with health issues to spend more time indoors.
“Just driving into the zoo … you can see around the buildings, kind of a haze,” said Shelley Woinofsky, who was visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.
Some Chicago-area daycares have told parents their children will stay indoors on Tuesday because of poor air quality, while one youth sports club said it has modified its activities to add more indoor time.
“As these unsafe conditions continue, the City will continue to provide updates and take swift action to ensure vulnerable individuals have access to the resources they need to protect themselves and their families,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.
In the Milwaukee area, Flight for Life Wisconsin was unable to respond to a motorcycle crash because the FAA requires visibility of 2 miles (3.2 kilometers), and visibility was reduced by three-quarters to 1.5 miles (1.2-2.4 kilometers), CEO Leif Erickson said. because of the foggy sky.
Fires in northern Quebec and low pressure over the eastern Great Lakes region are sending smoke through northern Michigan and through southern Wisconsin and Chicago, said Brian Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Northerly winds will push the smoke further south, Jackson added, heading into Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky later Tuesday and overnight.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center reported Monday that 76,129 square kilometers (29,393 square miles) of land including forests have burned across Canada since January 1. National Forest Database.
Nationwide, there are currently 490 fires burning, of which 255 are considered to be out of control.
Even Quebec’s recent rains likely won’t be enough to extinguish the wildfires ravaging the northern part of that province, officials said Tuesday, but the wet weather could give firefighters a chance to beat the flames.
Almost a quarter of the fires burning in Canada are located in Quebec. Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault said he expects the rain to stop by Wednesday morning in the areas hardest hit by the bushfires.
Earlier this month, wildfires raging through swathes of Canadian forest blanketed the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes region, turning the air a yellowish-gray and prompting warnings for people to stay indoors and keep windows closed.
Small particles in wildfire smoke can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, and can affect the heart and lungs, making breathing more difficult. Health officials say it’s important to limit outdoor activities as much as possible to avoid breathing in these particles.
“Until the fires are out, there is danger,” Jackson said. “If there is any north wind element, there is a chance it will be smoke.”
In early June, US President Joe Biden said in a statement that hundreds of US firefighters and support personnel had been in Canada since May, drawing attention to the fires as a reminder of the effects of climate change.
A warming planet will produce hotter and longer heat waves, leading to bigger and smokier fires, according to Joel Thornton, professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington.
Preeti Marwa, who was starting her run along Lake City, calls the fog in Chicago on Tuesday “bad.”
She said, “Like, you can smell it stink. I’m running a hundred miles a week, so that’s going to be dangerous today. You can feel it… Even just standing there and walking out of it, I can feel it in my lungs.”
Smoke from the wildfire moved into Minnesota late Monday, and smoke is expected to persist at ground level in south, east-central and northeastern Minnesota. This includes the Twin Cities area, up to the northeast corner of the state and down to the southwest and southeast corners.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency tweeted that Tuesday marked the 23rd air quality alert in Minnesota this year, breaking the previous record of 21 set in 2021. It usually averages two or three alerts in Minnesota in a season.
St. Paul recorded the worst air quality in the United States in two weeks due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. As of noon Tuesday, air quality was rated “unhealthy” across eastern Minnesota from the Canadian border to the Iowa border.
The MPCA said a cold front will move across Minnesota on Wednesday, bringing cleaner air from the west across the region early Thursday.
But on Tuesday, the upcoming relief meant little to Dan Daly, a native of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
“It’s kind of miserable some days because you can’t spend as much time outside,” he said.
Daly said he smelled — and tasted — smoke in the air when he left the house this morning. He saw a hazy sky and wondered if this would be the norm for summers in the region in the future. When the air quality makes it unhealthy to go outside, Daly struggles to do the things he enjoys like hiking, camping, and walking around town.
He worries that people in other parts of the country who haven’t had days of poor air quality will think it’s no big deal. “If they think the smoke isn’t that bad, they should come here and see it for themselves,” said Daly.
The EPA’s AirNow.gov showed that parts of Illinois, Michigan and southern Wisconsin had the worst air quality in the US on Tuesday afternoon, and air quality in Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee was rated “extremely unhealthy.”
In Minnesota, a record 23rd air quality alert was issued from Tuesday through late Wednesday night for much of the state, as smoky skies obscured the skylines of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has issued an air quality alert for the entire state. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources also issued an air quality advisory for the state.
In Chicago, officials are urging young people, older adults and residents with health issues to spend more time indoors.
“Just driving into the zoo … you can see around the buildings, kind of a haze,” said Shelley Woinofsky, who was visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.
Some Chicago-area daycares have told parents their children will stay indoors on Tuesday because of poor air quality, while one youth sports club said it has modified its activities to add more indoor time.
“As these unsafe conditions continue, the City will continue to provide updates and take swift action to ensure vulnerable individuals have access to the resources they need to protect themselves and their families,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.
In the Milwaukee area, Flight for Life Wisconsin was unable to respond to a motorcycle crash because the FAA requires visibility of 2 miles (3.2 kilometers), and visibility was reduced by three-quarters to 1.5 miles (1.2-2.4 kilometers), CEO Leif Erickson said. because of the foggy sky.
Fires in northern Quebec and low pressure over the eastern Great Lakes region are sending smoke through northern Michigan and through southern Wisconsin and Chicago, said Brian Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Northerly winds will push the smoke further south, Jackson added, heading into Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky later Tuesday and overnight.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center reported Monday that 76,129 square kilometers (29,393 square miles) of land including forests have burned across Canada since January 1. National Forest Database.
Nationwide, there are currently 490 fires burning, of which 255 are considered to be out of control.
Even Quebec’s recent rains likely won’t be enough to extinguish the wildfires ravaging the northern part of that province, officials said Tuesday, but the wet weather could give firefighters a chance to beat the flames.
Almost a quarter of the fires burning in Canada are located in Quebec. Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault said he expects the rain to stop by Wednesday morning in the areas hardest hit by the bushfires.
Earlier this month, wildfires raging through swathes of Canadian forest blanketed the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes region, turning the air a yellowish-gray and prompting warnings for people to stay indoors and keep windows closed.
Small particles in wildfire smoke can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, and can affect the heart and lungs, making breathing more difficult. Health officials say it’s important to limit outdoor activities as much as possible to avoid breathing in these particles.
“Until the fires are out, there is danger,” Jackson said. “If there is any north wind element, there is a chance it will be smoke.”
In early June, US President Joe Biden said in a statement that hundreds of US firefighters and support personnel had been in Canada since May, drawing attention to the fires as a reminder of the effects of climate change.
A warming planet will produce hotter and longer heat waves, leading to bigger and smokier fires, according to Joel Thornton, professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington.
Preeti Marwa, who was starting her run along Lake City, calls the fog in Chicago on Tuesday “bad.”
She said, “Like, you can smell it stink. I’m running a hundred miles a week, so that’s going to be dangerous today. You can feel it… Even just standing there and walking out of it, I can feel it in my lungs.”
Smoke from the wildfire moved into Minnesota late Monday, and smoke is expected to persist at ground level in south, east-central and northeastern Minnesota. This includes the Twin Cities area, up to the northeast corner of the state and down to the southwest and southeast corners.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency tweeted that Tuesday marked the 23rd air quality alert in Minnesota this year, breaking the previous record of 21 set in 2021. It usually averages two or three alerts in Minnesota in a season.
St. Paul recorded the worst air quality in the United States in two weeks due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. As of noon Tuesday, air quality was rated “unhealthy” across eastern Minnesota from the Canadian border to the Iowa border.
The MPCA said a cold front will move across Minnesota on Wednesday, bringing cleaner air from the west across the region early Thursday.
But on Tuesday, the upcoming relief meant little to Dan Daly, a native of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
“It’s kind of miserable some days because you can’t spend as much time outside,” he said.
Daly said he smelled — and tasted — smoke in the air when he left the house this morning. He saw a hazy sky and wondered if this would be the norm for summers in the region in the future. When the air quality makes it unhealthy to go outside, Daly struggles to do the things he enjoys like hiking, camping, and walking around town.
He worries that people in other parts of the country who haven’t had days of poor air quality will think it’s no big deal. “If they think the smoke isn’t that bad, they should come here and see it for themselves,” said Daly.
[ad_2]
