Illinois Under an Air Quality Alert

As of its issuing on Monday, much of Illinois including the entire city of Chicago was under an official air quality alert, stating that the air quality had reached unhealthy levels. The air quality became poor as a result of the ongoing and long-lasting Canadian wildfires. In the U.S., we first saw areas on the upper east coast, like New York, take a hit in air quality from the fires, and it is now reaching more midwestern regions like Illinois. Chicago was filled with haze and smoke from the fires, creating an unhealthy environment where people were advised to stay home if possible.

The degression in the air quality has been quite quick, going from healthy, to unhealthy for sensitive groups, to entirely unhealthy in a matter of just about one day. Early Monday morning the fine particulate matter levels in the air registered at 155. This level is just 45 away from falling under the very unhealthy ranking.

With an issued air quality alert, people are warned to limit their time outdoors.

The air quality in Chicago before has remained mostly unaffected by the fires, but the longer they rage on, the worse the air has become for any part of the United States neighboring Canada. Now that the smoke and haze have reached the area, the air quality is expected to fluctuate until the fires pass the Chicago area.

Chicago’s air quality warning came after one was issued in the Great Lakes regions.

The alert came stating it was “due to the lingering, thick concentration of Canadian wildfire smoke.” They expect the coverage of smoke to continue to come and go for at least the remainder of this week.

There is a potential that, if the wildfires continue on as they are, there will continue to be alerts issued periodically. Just a few weeks ago Chicago also saw air quality warnings being issued, having reached a point so bad that the entire city was covered in a smokey haze for days. This back and forth could be a sign that this may happen again after this round of air quality alerts unless the wildfires are taken care of.

The Chicago Mayor, Brandon Johnson, has at this time advised people to keep informed on the air quality issue, as they may change alerts or issue new ones at any given time.