<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/28/us-heatwave-wildfire-smoke-air-quality-extreme-weather>
"Huge swaths of the United States continue to face extreme weather as
temperatures persist into the triple digits in the south and south-west while
smoke pollution is blighting the midwest.
Chicago and Detroit both had the most unhealthy air in the world for several
hours on Tuesday evening, CNN reported, as smoke drifts from record Canadian
wildfires. More than 80 million people, largely from the midwest to the east
coast, are under air quality alerts.
“Until the fires are out, there’s a risk,” said Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist
with the National Weather Service. “If there’s any north component to the wind,
there’s a chance it’ll be smoky.” The warming planet will produce hotter and
longer heatwaves, making for bigger, smokier fires, said Joel Thornton,
professor and chair of the department of atmospheric sciences at the University
of Washington.
In Chicago, officials urged young people, older adults and residents with
health issues to spend more time indoors.
Priti Marwah, jogging along Chicago’s lakefront on Tuesday, described the haze
as “bad”.
“Like, you can smell it bad,” she said. “I run a hundred miles a week, so this
is going to be dangerous today. You can feel it … just even parking right there
and coming out, I can feel it in my lungs.”
“Just driving into the zoo … you could just see around the buildings, kind of
just haze,” said Shelly Woinowski, who was visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo in
Chicago.
Some daycare centers in the Chicago area told parents that their children would
remain indoors on Tuesday due to the poor air quality, while one youth sports
club said it adjusted its activities to add more time indoors.
“As these unsafe conditions continue, the city will continue to provide updates
and take swift action to ensure that vulnerable individuals have the resources
they need to protect themselves and their families,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said
in a statement."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
