Chicago Air Quality Ranked One of the Worst
Fires in Canada have caused the air quality in some cities to become poor and hazardous. Midwest cities like Chicago, Detroit, Washington DC, and Minneapolis have had the worst air quality in recent weeks. According to the National Weather Service, “wildfire smoke from Canada will reduce air quality over parts of the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes, Western Ohio Valley, Central Appalachians, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic, prompting Air Quality Warnings over the area.”
Chicago’s air quality dropped so low that it became one of the worst in the world and this is due to the Canada wildfire with the smoke coming off it drifting down into the states and, more importantly, in the city. These wildfires that are affecting the air quality of Chicago all started because of the Canadian wildfire season.
Reason Behind the Wildfires
Climate change is believed to be causing the wildfire to burn hotter and faster than usual, but that is not the main problem. The real problem is how the winds have brought over the smoke from those wildfires into areas south of Canada. These areas’ air quality dropping dramatically with the air quality index saying that it has gone to a level that is considered “very unhealthy.”
These fires drifted from up north in Canada into areas in the Midwest and northeast. Even the CDC issued a health alert to watch out for any symptoms of wildfire smoke. Some of these symptoms include headache, chest pain, coughing, sneezing, eye irritation, breathing troubles, and other such symptoms. Wildfire smoke exposure can exacerbate certain respiratory and metabolic conditions. These are asthma, COPD, and congestive heart failure, the CDC says.
Staying Safe During Bad Air Quality Time
The CDC recommends you stay indoors and encourages people to wear N95 or P100 masks if they have to go outdoors during these times. With over 3,000 trees being burned in the wildfires in very much not recommended to go outdoors with no way to filter the air.
Chicago Air Quality Begins to Improve
Chicago’s air quality over the past few days has been improving but can still be negatively impacting our health. Wildfire smoke that traveled from Canada caused poor air quality and impacted large portions of the USA.
The use of toxic products that contain carbon dioxide also has a huge negative impact on our air quality due to pollution, which affects the way we humans breathe according to the NWS (National Weather Service).
By James Monegan, Ciara M. Robertson, Randall P. Buford
Sources:
NBC 5: As smoky skies, and ‘very unhealthy’ air quality in Chicago continues, stormy weather is on the way
CBS 2: Chicago First Alert Weather: Air quality worst in the world due to wildfire smoke
Accuweather: one-third of US population under air quality alerts as East remains socked in by smoke
Block Club Chicago: PHOTOS: Eerie Scenes Across Chicago As City Struggles With Dangerous Air Quality
National Weather Service: Smoke from Canadian Wildfires Across the Great Lakes
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Inset Image Courtesy of Duncan Rawlinson – Duncan.co‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
