Air quality in the Midwest is once again a fire target in Canada as heavy smoke from the north combines with a heat wave in the region.
The National Weather Service has issued air quality warnings for much of the Upper Midwest because of the smoke.
Chicago is experiencing the sixth worst air quality in the world as of Tuesday morning, according to IQAir international tracker. The city's air quality index of 120 is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups”. Minneapolis and Detroit follow at 10th and 11th globally, respectively, with “moderate” air quality.
Wildfires in Canada have been raging since early June, sending huge clouds of smoke south into the US that have blanketed cities from Minneapolis to Washington, DC, turning some skies orange. Smoke this week has affected communities as far south as Alabama.
This year, Canada experienced the worst fire season in the country's history, with more than 28.9 million hectares burned. according to the authorities. That's about the size of Ohio just in burned forest.
More than 1,000 fires have been burning across Canada since Tuesday, two-thirds of which are out of control. A large percentage of those fires are in British Columbia, blowing smoke southwest on the wind and into the U.S., officials said.
British Columbia also faces a strict drought, with much of the northern part of the province – where most of the fires are – under the highest drought level provincial authorities are monitoring.
The last major outbreak of wildfire smoke in the US late last month saw Chicago briefly record the worst air quality in the world.
Smoke in the Midwest is being combined with extreme heat for the first time this year. Temperatures are expected to be the hottest the region has seen so far this year — up to 100 degrees in Minneapolis and 95 degrees in Chicago.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people in the affected cities who suffer from health problems such as asthma or other respiratory conditions wear a mask when outside.
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