Thick smoke from the seemingly endless Canadian wildfires has again blanketed large swaths of the United States, prompting warnings for residents to stay indoors with few signs of any immediate respite. Several major cities, including Detroit and Indianapolis, reported some of the worst air quality in the United States on Wednesday afternoon, with air quality indexes falling well into the “very unhealthy” category. Hunter Dimeola, who works for a sports statistics company, said the smoke Wednesday didn’t feel as heavy to him as the previous bout of Canadian wildfire smoke earlier in June. The worst fires in their ranking did not match up very well with the worst fires in traditional rankings, such as acres burned or buildings and infrastructure lost. Dr. Ford and others have studied wildfire smoke patterns, as well as the resulting exposure to particulate matter pollution.

Source: New York Times June 29, 2023 19:48 UTC