Wildfire Smoke Brings More Hazardous Air Quality to Great Lakes and Beyond
As dozens of wildfires continued to burn across Canada on Friday, the country sat under a thick blanket of wildfire smoke, with some of that acrid air drifting into the United States.
There are over 200 wildfires burning across Canada, with no end in sight to the outbreak.
Air quality advisories and warnings have been issued across Canada, from British Columbia to Newfoundland.
Follow the latest air quality and smoke information across Canada and the United States here.
Smoke gets easily carried by winds. This week, it has drifted as far north as Newfoundland and as far south as Florida. 'There are some people who think this smoke could reach Europe,' said Stéphane Bilodeau, an adjunct professor specializing in air quality at McGill University in Quebec.
Winnipeg, the provincial capital of Manitoba, and Fort Smith, a small town in the Northwest Territories, reported the worst air quality in Canada on Friday morning, with levels in the 'very high risk range,' according to the Canadian government.
'Today is the worst day in Montreal of this week,' Mr. Bilodeau said. 'Toronto has started to be very bad, too.
'The worst of all is definitely Winnipeg due to its proximity to the fires in Manitoba,' he added. 'It's just a couple miles from the core of the fires.'
Air quality
The impacts from smoke were less severe in the United States on Friday compared with previous days, especially in the Northeast, but Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center, said more smoke was expected to push into the country this weekend.
'There's another batch that could come down Saturday night into Sunday,' Mr. Chenard said.
In the United States on Friday, the worst smoke impacts were over the Great Lakes, with the air quality in Detroit being 'very unhealthy,' between 100 and 140.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that wildfire smoke contains dangerous pollutants in the form of fine particles known as PM 2.5 that can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Short-term exposure can lead to bronchitis, worsen asthma and create other health issues.
Peak wildfire season in Canada usually begins in June, but this year is proving to be an especially active start with fires growing large quickly.
'Definitely the start-up is a steep and severe one,' said Mr. Bilodeau.
On Friday, there were 212 wildfires burning across Canada, with most of those in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center.
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