A massive plume of smoke from ongoing wildfires in Ontario, Canada, and northern Minnesota has triggered extensive air quality alerts across more than 20 states, stretching from the Upper Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.
The entire state of Michigan and the vast majority of Minnesota are under hazardous air quality alerts. Heavy alerts also cover Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio. In Illinois, the City of Chicago has extended its Red Forecast Air Pollution Action Day due to unhealthy and hazardous conditions.
In the Mid-Atlantic region, Pennsylvania has escalated to a "Code Purple" (very unhealthy) alert. New Jersey, Maryland (which declared a state-wide Code Red and Code Purple for western counties), Delaware, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., are all under active Code Red alerts.
Active alerts span across western and central New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Major cities like Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C., have seen some of the poorest air quality indices globally over the past 24 hours. Because conditions shift rapidly with wind and weather patterns, it is highly recommended to check live, localized updates on AirNow.gov.
Despite living 90 miles from Chicago, Sue and I are both feeling the effects of the wildfire smoke. Sue has emphysema and usually takes two breathing treatments with her nebulizer every day. Yesterday, even though she didn't go outside, she ended up administering six treatments.
Axios helpfully points out that "It's too early to tie these wildfires directly to climate change." But don't worry, they're working on it.
Someone might want to point out to the climate change hysterics that this is not the first time wildfires in Canada have affected the air quality in the Midwest.
The most famous wildfire smoke event in modern history occurred in late September 1950.
The massive Chinchaga Fire (often called the "Wisp Fire") burned freely across northern British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. It became the largest single wildfire in recorded North American history, burning up to 4.2 million acres.
A strong atmospheric weather system pushed a gargantuan smoke plume south and east. On Sept. 24–25, 1950, cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland experienced eerie, mid-afternoon twilight.
Because satellite technology and instant news didn't exist yet, many Midwesterners had no idea where the smoke was coming from. In Ohio and Michigan, birds went to roost in the middle of the afternoon, and baseball games had to be played under stadium lights. Some residents frantically called local police, fearing a nuclear attack or the end of the world. The smoke was so high and thick that the sun famously appeared as a glowing purple, blue, or lavender disc.
Related: AI Data Centers Are Not the Villain, Even If Governor Hochul Thinks So
More recently, I recall the late 1980s and '90s, when Canada experienced several historically massive fire years that funneled smoke into the northern United States.
The 1989 Canadian wildfire season was one of the most severe on record prior to the 2000s, with fires largely burning in northern Manitoba. Strong winds frequently carried thick, hazy smoke south into the Upper Midwest (including Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois), noticeably deteriorating summer visibility and turning skies yellow.
The difference between then and now is the area of forest consumed by the fires. While Canada actually had a higher number of individual fires in the 1980s, the total land area burned has dramatically increased in recent years due to hotter, drier summers. Modern fires are much larger and deeper and produce vastly more smoke.
National Weather Service meteorologist Jake Petr said even if winds from the northwest clear skies as expected later this week, the smoky air could keep returning until the fires are out. That could take months, until it snows in Canada and northern Minnesota, officials have said.
Bill Ostrowski, 76, wore a mask as he walked through downtown Chicago, where wildfire smoke shrouded skyscrapers. "It stinks. It's not a good sign when you wake up in the morning and you can smell the air," said Ostrowski.
In St. Paul, Minnesota, the sky was "glowing yellow," said Brent Williams, head of the soil, water and climate department at the University of Minnesota. The area "could be looking at weeks to months of continued smoke and flare-ups off and on as the winds blow in different directions," he said.
The climate change hysterics have gotten a little gun-shy in automatically blaming things like wildfires on global warming. But they'll get around to it, you can bet on that.
Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.
Help us continue exposing Democrats' plans to lead America down a dangerous path. Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member