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Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Climate
- Chicago Tribune
Smoky air from Canadian wildfires envelops Chicago for 3rd day. What does this mean for summer?
Tiny, airborne smoke particles blowing in from Canadian wildfires resisted dispersal from a steady, light rain across the Chicago area Wednesday, concentrating even more Thursday to reach levels unhealthy for the general public. The smoke pushed northeast Illinois into its third day in a row of bad air quality Friday and the state into its first two air pollution action days of the year. Chicago's air quality was ranked the worst in the United States on Thursday, according to Swiss air quality technology company IQAir. At one point during the day, The Washington Post reported, the city had the second-worst air quality among the world's major cities. 'Whatever pollutants were in the air (Wednesday), because of the rain, got suppressed and deposited on the ground. But the wildfires are still happening in the north,' said Ashish Sharma, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, whose research focuses on climate and air quality modeling. 'It is sending smoke continuously. Rain would have offset the past smoke, but it won't offset the new smoke.' Before the summer even officially begins, Chicagoans have already encountered their fair share of nasty particles in the air. In May, a rare dust storm enveloped the city in agricultural sediment. This week, hazy skies are reminiscent of the intense Canadian wildfires of 2023, which made Chicago the second-most-polluted major city in the country that year. The smoke reaching the Midwest now mostly originates from fires that have been raging northwest of the provincial capital of Winnipeg in Manitoba since mid-May. Some may be wondering — will it be a summer of days spent indoors? Will the current stretch end or will the smoke stay in the area for weeks? 'It's hard to tell,' said Zac Adelman, executive director of the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium, an air quality research nonprofit. 'And it's hard to forecast what's gonna happen, you know? I don't want to catastrophize and say this is going to lead into a summer where we're not going to be able to go outside.' On Thursday and Friday, at least, that was the recommendation. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency urged residents in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, Lake, McHenry and Will counties to limit their time outdoors. By midafternoon Thursday, particulate matter levels in the Chicago area had reached an index of 165 on a scale of 500, which is considered unhealthy for the general public. Friday is expected to be similarly bad, and the EPA extended its air quality alert through the end of the day Friday. Levels between 200 and 300 are 'very unhealthy,' and anything between 300 and 500 is 'hazardous.' Wednesday levels remained solidly between 101 and 150, meaning air quality was unhealthy only for sensitive groups. As climate change intensifies, concerns grow about air quality events that disrupt daily life becoming the norm. Dust storms are mostly linked to farming practices that leave soil uncovered and ready to be blown away. However, when it comes to wildfire smoke, scientists say climate change from human activities is making conditions like drought more common, thus increasing the size, frequency and severity of wildfires. 'What we are seeing is that wildfire season is getting prolonged. It's starting early, and it might end late,' Sharma said. 'So that's of big concern for us. Especially if and when the weather pattern starts stagnating, then we will be trapped with a lot of smoke, especially in the Midwest and Chicago, and the Great Lakes region. That might deteriorate the air quality further.' Wind patterns also add a layer of unpredictability to the reach of bad air from intensifying, longer-lasting wildfires. For instance, in summer 2023, a weather system moving counterclockwise pushed air from wildfires across Quebec and Ontario in eastern Canada toward the Great Lakes. A total of 37 million acres were lost to the fires that year. Last summer, fires in British Columbia and Alberta did not blow particulate matter into the Midwest because jet streams carried that smoke eastward and northward, Sharma said. It was also a less intense wildfire season, with just under 13 million acres burning. In 2025, 6.5 million acres have burned as of Thursday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. 'The bottom line is, it depends on the wind flow and the patterns and where the fire started, and so on,' Sharma said. 'It's not that if wildfires are happening a lot, we will be impacted — it depends. Maybe a smaller wildfire in comparison to historical (ones) might be a lot worse for us. Or a large fire, if the plume is not in our direction, might be a lot worse at some other location.' The air directors consortium uses satellite imagery to understand air pollution at all levels of the atmosphere in the Great Lakes region. Most summer days, Adelman said, they can see smoke overhead. 'The real challenge is, how do you predict when it's going to get to the surface?' he said. 'Because there's somewhere in North America that's burning at all times, and it's loading the upper atmosphere with smoke and particles.' Forest fires produce fine particulate matter, but direct human sources like vehicle exhaust and industry emissions also release these particles — known as PM2.5 for being 2.5 micrometers or smaller, about 30 times smaller than the width of a strand of human hair. So baseline levels of pollution can be tamped down by regulations on tailpipe emissions, power plants and factories, and more. Earlier this year, however, President Donald Trump's administration announced it was launching a set of deregulatory actions that included a 'reconsideration' of a decision under former President Joe Biden last year that had tightened annual air quality standards for PM2.5 from 12 to 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air. In February, the Illinois EPA found that the Chicago metropolitan area hadn't met the Biden-era federal air quality standards from 2021 to 2023, the most recent three years of data. Stricter truck pollution rule would prevent 500 deaths a year in Chicago region, study showsPeople most vulnerable to experiencing health effects from PM2.5 pollution levels like Thursday's include those with respiratory or cardiovascular disorders, children, teens and seniors, as well as adults who are active outdoors. People of lower socioeconomic status who live in heavily industrialized zones already burdened by localized pollution are also more vulnerable to adverse health outcomes during widespread events. Symptoms to look out for include wheezing, coughing, a fast heartbeat, fatigue, chest pain and shortness of breath, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Initially, PM2.5 may cause burning eyes and a runny nose. But once in the deepest portions of the lungs, it can cross into the bloodstream, messing with blood chemistry and causing heart stoppages. Fine particulate matter has also been linked to premature births, diabetes and even dementia, according to scientists. On action days — which the Illinois EPA calls when air quality is at least unhealthy for sensitive groups for two or more consecutive days — officials also urge residents to limit their contributions to pollution levels. Activities to avoid include driving, idling cars, using gasoline-powered equipment like lawnmowers or leaf blowers outdoors, and smoking, frying or broiling food, burning candles or incense, and using a gas stove indoors. Health officials also recommend conserving energy, using environmentally friendly household and cleaning products, and running a portable air purifier or a central air conditioning system with the fresh air intake closed or set on recirculate. Those who can't avoid outdoor activities can wear an N95 or N100 mask to protect their lungs. The city's Office for Emergency Management and Communications is urging Chicagoans without access to properly ventilated or safe indoor conditions to use public libraries, senior centers, Chicago Park District facilities and the Chicago Cultural Center during hours of operation, or the six community service centers that will be open on Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. These are the Englewood Center at 1140 W. 79th St., the Garfield Center at 10 S. Kedzie Ave., the King Center at 4314 S. Cottage Grove, the North Area Center at 845 W. Wilson Ave., the South Chicago Center at 8650 S. Commercial Ave., and the Trina Davila Center at 4312 W. North Ave. Air quality forecasts are available at Residents can subscribe for free to receive alerts through the website.
Chicago Tribune
09-02-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
O'Hare is Chicago's biggest CO2 emitter; Indiana factories are region's top polluters
In 2023, O'Hare International Airport and its screaming jet engines were Chicago's biggest single source of carbon dioxide, accounting for one-tenth of the city's total. Half of Chicago's CO2 came from a transportation system choked with cross-country freight and the worst traffic congestion in the United States. Only an eighth of the city's CO2 came from industry, and almost none from generating electricity. These are highlights from a first-of-its-kind computer model from Crosswalk Labs. The Washington, D.C., firm tracks and visualizes emissions data from every sector of the economy in neighborhoods across the United States. According to Crosswalk Labs, Chicago's transportation emissions have been rising since the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to the city's total emissions remaining flat despite a promise of steep cuts from a parade of corporate and government leaders. Americans love to move around. That's a big reason they're sticking with carbon-saturated lifestyles despite record heat and raging wildfires worldwide, said Zac Adelman, executive director of the Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium, or LADCO. Last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared 2024 the hottest year on record worldwide and in Chicago. 'It's bleak,' said Adelman, whose consortium coordinates air quality research for Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio. 'Not everyone is an environmentalist,' he said. 'And for those people who do care, they're not sure which actions would be most helpful.' Crosswalk compiles its pollution estimates by scrubbing every conceivable data source for the number, location and potency of CO2 emitters. For example, using Federal Aviation Administration data, the company counts every plane that takes off and lands in the United States. It assigns a CO2 value to each one based on its type. The company uses real-time GPS traffic data from commercial vendors to count cars and trucks. Crosswalk uses annual CO2 reports filed with the EPA for big stationary polluters such as factories and power plants. Jason Burnett, the company's chief executive, says neighborhood-level data is more critical than ever as President Donald Trump attacks federal programs. 'State, local and private sector leaders are making decisions today that will determine the outcome for climate change over the next decade,'' Burnett said. After boiling its data down into census tracts, Crosswalk can build it back up in any number of ways, including by city, county and metropolitan statistical area. It can compare towns and counties on opposite ends of the country. The Chicago Metropolitan Statistical Area includes 13 counties in northeast Illinois and adjacent parts of Indiana. In Crosswalk's list of Top 25 carbon dioxide polluters in Chicago's metropolitan area, northwest Indiana's steel mills and oil refineries stand out as battered and lonely survivors after half a century of deindustrialization. Two steel mills along Lake Michigan emitted more CO2 combined in 2023 than the entire city of Chicago, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data cited by Crosswalk. Both mills, one in East Chicago owned by Cleveland-Cliffs and one in Gary owned by U.S. Steel, make steel for car and truck bodies. According to Hilary Lewis, a steel researcher for Washington, D.C., think tank Industrious Labs, the Gary mill alone provides about a quarter of all steel made in the United States. The East Chicago and Gary mills are also major sources of PM2.5, or small particle pollution, which damages hearts and lungs. In the 3-mile area surrounding the Gary mill, 97% of residents are people of color, and 62% are low-income, Lewis said. In addition, according to Crosswalk, a BP oil refinery next door in Whiting emits one-third as much CO2 as the entire city of Chicago. The refinery converts thick, carbon-rich tar sands crude from Canada into enough gasoline and diesel fuel for 7 million cars daily, plus jet fuel for O'Hare and Midway airports and 7% of all the asphalt used in the United States. U.S. Steel and BP said they are consistently looking for ways to cut CO2 emissions. Cleveland-Cliffs did not respond to requests for comment. The CO2 coming from these factories is elusive. Unlike many of the region's other toxins, people can't see, smell, taste or feel it, as it lingers in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. A CO2 molecule from Whiting is no more dangerous to somebody who lives in Whiting than a molecule from Shanghai. But together, all the CO2 molecules everywhere are lifting temperatures across the globe. Besides being the hottest year, 2024 was also when scientists say CO2 accumulated in the atmosphere at the fastest pace in recorded history, according to a BBC report. Carolyn Marsh began battling BP pollution when she moved to Whiting in 1987 and saw that the refinery was damaging habitats for migrating birds. A laid-off steelworker, she's been helping run a Facebook page called BP & Whiting Watch. Since August, Marsh has been posting daily PM2.5 readings from an air quality monitor on her front porch. She also posted an incident report that BP filed with the EPA's National Response Center on a Dec. 26 chemical spill. The report showed that at least 10 pounds of the carcinogen benzene had been released into the air. Marsh said the company still hasn't explained why the chemicals involved in the spill smelled so bad that people were complaining 20 miles away on the north side of Chicago. BP Spokesman Cesar Rodriguez acknowledged the bad smell near the refinery but said BP didn't release enough contaminants to threaten public health. Marsh said she doesn't know much about CO2 besides that it contributes to global warming, and she doesn't track it on her air monitor. But she includes it among the long list of pollutants that she says BP routinely downplays. 'We're a dead zone with miles of pipelines and industrial pollution,' she said. 'The air here is thick. It's not normal air. 'And where's the local mitigation? We should have free indoor air filters, electric school buses, and 1,000 more trees. This can be done right now, today, tomorrow.' Joliet and its suburbs are another CO2 hotspot, according to Crosswalk, with half a dozen big petrochemical plants, and six power plants that burn natural gas. The city also has two nuclear power plants within a 20-mile radius. Industries were drawn to Joliet first by its rivers, railroads and nearby coal mines and then by a dense concentration of oil and natural gas pipelines connected to Texas and Alberta. And some of them are huge. In Morris, the natural gas-fired CPV Three Rivers Energy Center generates as much electricity as one of the reactors in a nearby nuclear power plant. Morris, with just 15,000 people, generates more electricity than all but six cities in the United States, according to GridInfo, an Austin, Texas-based data provider on power plants. Joliet is also an intermodal rail and truck mecca. But the big Union Pacific and BNSF intermodal terminals that attract millions of trucks don't show up in EPA records as a single stationary pollution source, like a steel mill. So Crosswalk has lumped them together in a broad and amorphous category called transportation, including O'Hare and Midway airports. According to Crosswalk, residential and commercial buildings account for 38% of Chicago's CO2 emissions. Transportation accounts for half. That amount will be hard to cut if, as the Illinois Department of Transportation predicts, the amount of freight moving through Cook County doubles by 2050. That's an example of why nearly everyone involved in CO2 polluting is falling short of their goal to improve. Three years ago, for instance, the city of Chicago set a goal of cutting CO2 emissions by two-thirds by 2040. Since then, the city's emissions have been flat, according to Crosswalk. The city measures its CO2 progress in three-year increments, said a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Environment. The last review was in 2022, which showed a reduction from 2019, she said. The next CO2 review is expected to get underway soon. Four years ago, U.S. Steel set a goal for net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. The Gary mill, the company's largest, emitted more CO2 in 2023 than when the company set this goal, not less, according to EPA data. To make faster progress, the company said it hopes to begin capturing Gary's CO2 emissions sometime next year and converting them into calcium carbonate, a mineral that can be recycled into paper and plastics. In the meantime, the Sierra Club fought Nippon Steel's proposed purchase of the company contending the planet's atmosphere can't handle a planned $300 million investment to prolong coal-fired iron-making in Gary for another 20 years. Five years ago, BP announced a plan to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. In 2023, the Whiting refinery, the company's largest, also emitted more CO2 than when BP set the goal. In November BP signed a planning agreement with the U.S. government to power a portion of the refinery with hydrogen made from natural gas and then capture and bury the CO2 emitted during the process. As these reforms crawl forward, Tina Strasny is still trying to live her life in the shadow of the refinery. At age 60, she's a costume designer and stitcher for local theatrical companies. She lives in Whiting, 2 ½ blocks from the BP entrance. Strasny grew up in Whiting and moved back a decade ago after 27 years in Chicago. Her grandparents were emigres from Eastern Europe and Sweden. Her father and all her uncles worked at BP, and one of her uncles died there in a fire. They stayed because of what to them was spectacular pay and benefits and freedom from endless political turmoil in Europe. They didn't think much about pollution, Stasny said, at least not until their later years, when they became boaters, bird-watchers and duck hunters. Today, Strasny likes looking out on Lake Michigan from her back window. 'There are certain times of the day when you expect certain smells. But it's not stinky here all the time,' she said. 'It's a very pleasant and safe place. We have a beautiful lakefront park, a beautiful beach.' An exception, of course, came during BP's benzene spill the day after Christmas. It smelled like sulfur, tar and acrid, heavy metals all rolled into one, Strasny said, and it was overpowering. For two days she couldn't sleep. 'I don't feel like I was struggling to breathe,' she said. 'But it was exhausting. It felt like work,' Strasny said. 'Having lived here, I feel like we're like pigeons who kind of adapt. I can't prove it's not affecting me, but I just don't know.' Strasny gets annoyed, she said, when Chicagoans criticize 'all the dumb people in northwestern Indiana' who've failed to stop chemical spills and billowing clouds of CO2 on their own. 'Chicago has to be involved in reducing their usage of the kind of steel and oil we produce here now in northwest Indiana. But Chicago isn't willing to do that,' she said. 'It's like, everybody who cares about the environment wants someone else to change.'
