Wildfire Smoke From Canada Blankets Upper Midwest, Heads East

Wildfires in Ontario, Canada continued to bring thick smoke to the midwestern U.S. Thursday, compromising air quality for residents of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.

The worst air quality in the U.S. was detected in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.

As of Thursday, at least 50 wildfires were burning in Ontario, with the northwest region the most affected, according to a map of the wildfires.

Another map showed smoke from the wildfires in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, North Dakota and Michigan.

The state Department of Natural Resources warned, “People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion,” reported CNN.

Last week, smoke from the wildfires came down from Quebec, blanketing a large portion of the U.S., from the mid-Atlantic and Northeast to the Midwest, and lowering air quality.

The air in New York City, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia had a hazy orange tinge that lingered for days. Flights were grounded, and schools, beaches and zoos were forced to close.

Scientists have warned of the likelihood of more frequent and severe wildfires as the climate crisis continues.

“Research shows that changes in climate create warmer, drier conditions. Increased drought, and a longer fire season are boosting these increases in wildfire risk. For much of the U.S. West, projections show that an average annual 1 degree C temperature increase would increase the median burned area per year as much as 600 percent in some types of forests. In the Southeastern United States, modeling suggests increased fire risk and a longer fire season, with at least a 30 percent increase from 2011 in the area burned by lightning-ignited wildfire by 2060,” according to the environmental nonprofit Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

Smoke from wildfires can be especially hazardous as it contains fine particulate matter, which can make its way into deep lung tissue and end up in the bloodstream, CNN reported. This type of smoke can cause health issues like heart disease, asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

The smoke returned to the northeast again Friday, bringing upper atmospheric smoke to Philadelphia and New York.

“What’s going to happen over the next few days is we’re going to start to see a shift in the pattern that’s going to bring the smoke a little bit farther toward the east,” said Weather Channel meteorologist Ari Sarsalari, as reported by CBS News. Sarsalari said the smoke would travel over the Great Lakes, likely arriving in the North Atlantic on Friday into Saturday.

Since it was higher up in the atmosphere, the new round of smoke wasn’t affecting air quality as much at ground level, sparing the region the orange Martian glow.

“[T]he vast majority of the smoke should remain aloft,” the Weather Service said Thursday, as The New York Times reported.

According to Bill Goodman, a Weather Service meteorologist, the smoke this time around “will be experienced as hazy skies,” and “the smoke at the surface should be negligible,” as reported by The New York Times.

Last week, New York City had its worst air quality ever recorded when the Air Quality Index moved up the scale from “unhealthy” to “hazardous.”