CHICAGO—Parks, beaches and restaurants that offer outdoor dining usually flourish here in the summer months after a long, cold winter, but smoke has kept many residents indoors since Tuesday, when air quality in Chicago was the worst in the world for a while.
Smoke from wildfires in Canada has blanketed parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes this week, with the highest particulate matter levels in parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Iowa, according to air quality monitoring from the Environmental Protection Agency. PM2.5, particles smaller than 2.5 microns—about 30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair—is a mixture of solid and liquid particles in the air that can harm human health when inhaled.
Climate experts say it's hard to say if this will be something Midwesterners will have to deal with often, but this likely won't be the last time.
“It's something we don't see very often [in Chicago]said Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford.
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Rising temperatures due to climate change have made wildfires more frequent and more intense worldwide, temporarily worsening air quality in areas around the flames and, occasionally, in areas away from the flames.
This trend is evident in the western US, where fires have burned more acres of land in recent years, but the conditions that led to wildfire smoke from the Northeast to the Midwest are not typical.
“In recent years, it's been mostly the western part of Canada that has seen a lot of fires, now it looks like it might be happening in the eastern part as well,” said Nicole Riemer, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois. in Urbana-Champaign. “The conditions may not be like this every year, but it will probably happen again.”
The dry atmospheric conditions that fueled wildfires in northeastern Canada are the same type of conditions that fueled the smoke in the Midwest and Northeast U.S., Ford said.
Air quality alerts were in place across the region from Tuesday, with air quality index levels reaching “very unhealthy” in some areas. The fog is slowly drifting into the mid-Atlantic and northeast, according to the EPA's smoke monitoring.
The incident follows smoke that enveloped the North East earlier this month. At the time, New York briefly had the worst air quality of any city in the world and recorded the highest number of emergency room visits for asthma this year, with the Bronx particularly affected by the smog, Inside Climate News reported.
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Smog surfaces exacerbate the health risks to people already burdened by air pollution from transportation and industrial sources. Respiratory health risks are already higher in neighborhoods with larger black and brown populations, who are more likely to live closer to sources of pollution.
People who breathe in the smoke can experience a range of problems, including scratchy throats, eye irritation, coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing. Particulate matter can enter the circulatory system through the lungs and is associated with stroke and heart attack outcomes, premature births and premature deaths, according to Brian Urbaszewski of the Respiratory Health Association.
The smoke worsens already poor air quality in communities like Chicago's Southwest and Southeast sides, where ozone and particulate pollution levels are already higher than in the rest of the city. These communities already face some of the worst air pollution in the US, according to Guardian analysis on March.
“Marginalized communities are suffering additional damage at the moment, but next week, when the rest of the city breathes clean air again, we will still be breathing pollution from very active industrial enterprises located in close proximity to our built environment,” said Alfredo. Romo, executive director of Neighbors for Environmental Justice in Chicago. “For us, the problem doesn't end when the wind changes.”
The wildfires in Canada have forced federal, state and local officials to raise awareness about poor air quality and how it negatively affects the environment and human health, Romo said. He hopes this has created a greater sense of urgency to address the cumulative effects of industrial and transportation pollution that disproportionately affect communities in the Southwest and Southeast.
“My government and I are well aware of the impact of the climate crisis right now. Vulnerable communities in Chicago bear an ever-increasing burden from a climate that exacerbates extreme weather events,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a public statement Wednesday.
The city of Chicago – like other affected cities – advised Chicago residents to stay indoors and use a KN95 or N95 mask while outside. They offered public libraries, senior centers, park facilities and the city's cultural center as spaces for people without properly ventilated and safe indoor spaces. Smoke exposure can't be completely avoided indoors, but it can be limited by closing windows and doors and using air filters, Urbaszewski said.
“If it's very hot, smoky and you don't have AC, keeping the windows closed and succumbing to the heat is a risk, so people in that situation should look elsewhere for a temporary safe, cool place to stay,” Urbaszewski said.
Aydali Campa
Reporter, Chicago
Aydali Campa covers environmental justice at Inside Climate News. She grew up on the US-Mexico border in Arizona and taught third and fourth grade in Oklahoma City before pursuing a master's degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University. As a bilingual reporter with experience in multimedia, she has covered education, Covid-19 and cross-border issues. Her previous work can be seen in The Wall Street Journal, The Arizona Republic and Arizona PBS.
