CHICAGO (CN) — The Windy City had the worst air quality on the planet Tuesday, according to the World Air Quality Index. Other cities with some of the world's worst air included Minneapolis, Dubai, U.A.E, Jakarta, Indonesia and Lahore, Pakistan.
The U.S. Air Quality Index also confirmed that the whole upper Great Lakes region, from South Bend, Indiana, all the way to northern Michigan, had "very unhealthy" air quality Tuesday. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency likewise declared Tuesday an "Air Pollution Action Day" in response to the dangerous conditions.
The National Weather Service blamed the unhealthy air in the region — and accompanying low visibility — on smoke blowing in from Canadian wildfires to the far northwest. It urged locals, even those not at risk for respiratory illness, to stay indoors if possible until the smoke clears. For those who had to be outdoors for whatever reason, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson's office urged city residents to wear face masks capable of filtering smoke particles.
"We recommend children, teens, seniors, people with heart or lung disease, and individuals who are pregnant avoid strenuous activities and limit their time outdoors," the mayor said in a statement. “For additional precautions, all Chicagoans may also consider wearing masks, limiting their outdoor exposure, moving activities indoors, running air purifiers and closing windows.”
Outside in Chicago, the smoke colored the sky chalk-white, and was visible at ground level as a thick haze in the air. In some places the air even smelled of charcoal. Meteorologist Mark Ratzer said he expected the smoke to stick around "probably for a least a couple days."
"At least until midday Thursday," he said.
Ratzer said dangerous air quality days could become a regular feature of summer in the midwest as climate change drives more frequent and intense wildfires in Canada and the U.S. west coast. Smoky days were common in Chicago both last summer and in the summer of 2021.
"Fire seasons are starting earlier and are getting more extensive," Ratzer said.
In the Canadian province of British Columbia, Provincial Fire Information Officer Jean Strong backed up his assessment.
"The impact of climate change is clear in the province. Our fire season is starting earlier in the year and burning later into the fall," Strong said, specifying that she expected the wildfires in British Columbia to keep burning "well into September."
"Last fall we experienced an extended drought into the spring," Strong said. "We've gotten a bit of rain recently but it's not enough to counteract all that dry fuel."
Strong added that 2023 in particular has thus far proven one of the most intense wildfire seasons in the province's recorded history. Since the start of the fire season in spring, British Columbia has seen 532 distinct fires, 92 of which remain active. And though wildfires are a natural part of the forest ecosystem through much of western Canada, some of the fires burning this year have broken records for their sheer size.
"This year we've broken some records for the size of our fires," Strong said, citing by name the Donnie Creek wildfire in the northeast of the province. It has so far scorched 2,216 square miles, and is a source of much of the smoke currently covering the Windy City.
"It's the single largest fire in [British Columbia] history," Strong said.
Chicago's abysmal air quality Tuesday mirrored that of New York earlier in June, when the smoke was so intense that it covered the city and much of the surrounding region in an eerie orange hue.
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