From Chicago to Washington, DC: Cities Blanketed by Wildfire Smoke
Intense wildfire smoke from Minnesota and western Ontario has turned skies orange and triggered air quality alerts across the Midwest and Northeast US.
Summer traditions like hot dogs and beach days are being overshadowed by a new phenomenon in an era of global warming: choking on smoke from wildfires burning hundreds of miles away. The Midwest, Northeast, and parts of Canada have been hit by thick smoke that turned skies an eerie orange and sparked widespread air quality alerts. The source is fires in Minnesota and western Ontario.
Canada is where most of the fires are burning, with 119 out-of-control blazes across the country as of Friday afternoon. The fires are so intense that smoke rises into the atmosphere and is carried eastward by the jet stream. This is why Chicago and Detroit had the worst air quality in the world on Friday, while New York and Washington, DC, made the top 10 list.
The unhealthy air has prompted cities to advise residents to stay indoors and seek ways to reduce exposure to harmful smoke. While fresh air is expected in some locations this weekend, the fires show no signs of stopping, and more smoke may follow later in the summer.
Burning fossil fuels has increased the likelihood of destructive wildfires and, with them, more frequent smoke events. This week's orange skies on the East Coast recall 2023, when Canada's worst wildfire season on record sent smoke streaming into the region. Similar scenes have occurred in Europe this summer as fires ravage Spain, and orange skies have been seen in Australia and California in recent years.
Research published last year indicates that the situation will likely worsen unless the world reduces its use of coal, oil, and gas. A study in Nature projects that wildfire smoke will cause 71,420 excess deaths annually in the US alone by mid-century, a 73% increase from the 2010s. Between now and then, researchers estimate up to 1.9 million people in the US could die from smoke-related health issues. Below is a look at this week's smoke invasion—almost certainly a precursor to worse outbreaks if temperatures continue rising.
Toronto, Ontario; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
