Smoke from Canadian wildfires severely impacted air quality across the eastern United States on Wednesday, with several Midwestern states facing conditions deemed unhealthy by federal authorities. The ongoing fires have forced thousands of Canadians to evacuate and sent smoke plumes as far as Europe.
In the U.S., smoky skies were visible from Kansas City to Minneapolis, where the Environmental Protection Agency reported widespread unhealthy air quality. In Stoughton, Wisconsin, Nature’s Garden Preschool kept children indoors due to poor air conditions disrupting daily outdoor activities. Officials in Iowa and Wisconsin issued air quality alerts, urging residents to limit outdoor exposure and advising those with respiratory issues to take precautions.
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula recommended closing windows and avoiding strenuous outdoor activity, while parts of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York noted moderate air quality concerns. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency extended air quality alerts statewide, with increased respiratory symptoms reported among children in the Twin Cities area.
EPA’s AirNow map highlighted “unhealthy” air quality zones in Wisconsin, northern Iowa, and northern Michigan, with the Air Quality Index reaching around 160. The index measures pollutants such as ozone, particle pollution, and nitrogen dioxide, with particulates from the fires being the main issue.
Despite improvements in Minnesota, where air quality improved from “very unhealthy” to “moderate,” smoke continued to affect wide regions of the U.S., including advisories as far as Kansas and Georgia.
Canada is currently enduring another severe wildfire season, with smoke primarily originating from fires northwest of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The 2023 wildfire season was the worst in Canadian history, blanketing much of North America in hazardous smoke for months.
Smoke from the Canadian wildfires has also reached western Europe, causing hazy skies but not significantly affecting surface air quality. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the smoke will continue eastward, underscoring the fires’ intensity and scale.
Swifteradio.com
