Smoke from Canadian wildfires brings unhealthy air to large swaths of the Midwest
Air quality alerts were in effect in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as eastern Nebraska and parts of Indiana and Illinois. Forecasters said the smoky skies would remain for much of the day. People with lung disease, heart disease, children, older adults and pregnant women are most susceptible to the poor breathing conditions.
Canadian environmental officials said smoke from forest fires that was causing reduced visibility and poor quality would persist into Sunday for some areas.
The Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir, which assesses air quality in real time, listed the city of Minneapolis as having some of the worst air pollution in the world since Friday.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is expected to reach the red or unhealthy category in a large swath of Minnesota and will likely remain through Saturday. AQI is a system used to communicate how much air pollution is in the air. It breaks pollution down into six categories and colors, and advice on what isn't safe to do. They range from 'good' (the color green) to 'hazardous' (maroon).
The smoke could start to decline beginning Saturday before spreading as far south as Tennessee and Missouri. The air could remain unhealthy for sensitive groups through Monday, state health officials said.
The EPA's Air Quality Index converts all pollutant levels into a single number. The lower the number, the better. Anything below 50 is classified as 'healthy.' Fifty to 100 is 'moderate' while 100-150 is unhealthy for 'sensitive groups.' Anything above 150 is bad for everyone. Parts of Minnesota exceeded that number on Saturday.
Health officials advise people with asthma and other lung disease, heart disease, children and older adults to avoid prolonged exposure to smoke and limit strenuous activities. They said to avoid burning things that could make the air pollution worse, and keep windows and doors closed to keep the smoke from getting inside.
___
The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP's environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
4 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Sea Turtles Aren't the Only Victims of Plastic
Here's a fact that might make you feel a little strange inside: You and I have plastic in our brains. Tiny particles of polymers are also hanging about in our livers, kidneys, heart and bloodstream. If that doesn't make your insides itch, consider that in just eight years, scientists have observed an increase in the amount of bodily plastic. A study published in Nature compared post-mortem organ samples from 2016 and 2024 autopsy specimens. The more recent cadavers had far higher concentrations in the liver and brain. You might wonder if it matters if we are all steadily becoming part-plastic (even a newborn baby contains plastic these days). What harm could such tiny particles do? Akin to climate change's image of a polar bear on a lone ice float, the poster children of the plastic crisis thus far have been marine creatures choking on straws and carrier bags. These images are emotive, but have kept the issue at arm's length — a problem for the deep sea. In reality, it's so much worse than you thought.
CNN
4 hours ago
- CNN
Los Angeles wildfires may be linked to 440 deaths, new research estimates
The wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles earlier this year — burning entire neighborhoods to the ground, straining firefighting resources and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes — may have led to hundreds more deaths than were recorded, a new study suggests. While officials reported that the Palisades and Eaton fires directly killed at least 30 people when they incinerated parts of Los Angeles County, the blazes may be linked to 410 additional deaths from January 5 to February 1, according to research published Wednesday in the The Journal of the American Medical Association. That would make for a total of 440 wildfire-related deaths, according to the study. 'These additional deaths likely reflect a combination of factors, including increased exposure to poor air quality and health care delays and interruptions,' the study says. The wildfires' impact on his loved ones motivated Andrew Stokes, a mortality demographer and one of the authors of the study, to probe for excess deaths. 'Having had many family and friends who were directly affected made me feel compelled to look into this further, using my expertise as a demographer and a person who studies mortality statistics,' the Boston University associate professor told CNN. The new findings highlight the need to quantify just how deadly wildfires and other climate-related emergencies can be beyond direct fatalities. The emergencies can have long-term health effects that extend well beyond the disaster itself, experts say. Years ago, Stokes evaluated the excess deaths during the pandemic after many deaths went uncounted, he said. After developing models to understand the true toll of the virus, Stokes used that expertise to look at the true mortality burden of natural disasters such as the Los Angeles wildfires. Along with deaths directly related to the wildfire, the researchers counted deaths partially and indirectly attributed to the wildfires. That includes lung or heart conditions exacerbated by smoke or stress, disruptions to health systems and mental health impacts, according to the study. To conduct the study, the researchers compared recorded deaths in Los Angeles County from January to February with figures from previous years, excluding 2020 to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That helped researchers estimate how many deaths would have been expected in that time period had no wildfires occurred, Stokes said. They then calculated excess deaths as the difference between observed and expected deaths, according to the study. 'In Los Angeles County, weekly deaths consistently exceeded expected deaths during the period from January 5 to February 1, 2025,' the study says. A total of 6,371 deaths were observed in the county, compared with 5,931 expected deaths, according to the study. This means that nearly 7% of the recorded deaths in Los Angeles County were excess deaths linked to the wildfires. Stokes said he was 'really surprised and alarmed' at the findings. 'The magnitude of the underreporting in the official data is just very severe,' he said. But he hopes that quantifying the excess deaths can spur authorities to provide more assistance to those still grappling with the devastation. The researchers note that the data is preliminary and the toll could grow. 'That 440 value that we estimate is clearly the lower bound, because we only look at the first weeks after the wildfire started,' Stokes said. 'These medium and long- term effects … could manifest over time as people develop wildfire related diseases.' Future studies should investigate the longer-term health impacts of the wildfires and the specific causes of excess wildfire deaths, the researchers said.
CNN
5 hours ago
- CNN
Los Angeles wildfires may be linked to 440 deaths, new research estimates
The wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles earlier this year — burning entire neighborhoods to the ground, straining firefighting resources and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes — may have led to hundreds more deaths than were recorded, a new study suggests. While officials reported that the Palisades and Eaton fires directly killed at least 30 people when they incinerated parts of Los Angeles County, the blazes may be linked to 410 additional deaths from January 5 to February 1, according to research published Wednesday in the The Journal of the American Medical Association. That would make for a total of 440 wildfire-related deaths, according to the study. 'These additional deaths likely reflect a combination of factors, including increased exposure to poor air quality and health care delays and interruptions,' the study says. The wildfires' impact on his loved ones motivated Andrew Stokes, a mortality demographer and one of the authors of the study, to probe for excess deaths. 'Having had many family and friends who were directly affected made me feel compelled to look into this further, using my expertise as a demographer and a person who studies mortality statistics,' the Boston University associate professor told CNN. The new findings highlight the need to quantify just how deadly wildfires and other climate-related emergencies can be beyond direct fatalities. The emergencies can have long-term health effects that extend well beyond the disaster itself, experts say. Years ago, Stokes evaluated the excess deaths during the pandemic after many deaths went uncounted, he said. After developing models to understand the true toll of the virus, Stokes used that expertise to look at the true mortality burden of natural disasters such as the Los Angeles wildfires. Along with deaths directly related to the wildfire, the researchers counted deaths partially and indirectly attributed to the wildfires. That includes lung or heart conditions exacerbated by smoke or stress, disruptions to health systems and mental health impacts, according to the study. To conduct the study, the researchers compared recorded deaths in Los Angeles County from January to February with figures from previous years, excluding 2020 to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That helped researchers estimate how many deaths would have been expected in that time period had no wildfires occurred, Stokes said. They then calculated excess deaths as the difference between observed and expected deaths, according to the study. 'In Los Angeles County, weekly deaths consistently exceeded expected deaths during the period from January 5 to February 1, 2025,' the study says. A total of 6,371 deaths were observed in the county, compared with 5,931 expected deaths, according to the study. This means that nearly 7% of the recorded deaths in Los Angeles County were excess deaths linked to the wildfires. Stokes said he was 'really surprised and alarmed' at the findings. 'The magnitude of the underreporting in the official data is just very severe,' he said. But he hopes that quantifying the excess deaths can spur authorities to provide more assistance to those still grappling with the devastation. The researchers note that the data is preliminary and the toll could grow. 'That 440 value that we estimate is clearly the lower bound, because we only look at the first weeks after the wildfire started,' Stokes said. 'These medium and long- term effects … could manifest over time as people develop wildfire related diseases.' Future studies should investigate the longer-term health impacts of the wildfires and the specific causes of excess wildfire deaths, the researchers said.
