Air quality in the Midwest is terrible right now...

 

Smoke from a wildfire near Zama City in Canada. Reuters. 

Air quality in the Midwest is among the worst in the world due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. Yahoo News. Chicago had the worst air in the world among measured cities in terms of air quality, with much of the Midwest, including the rest of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio, along with parts of Iowa, Minnesota, Kentucky and West Virginia, also having terrible air quality. The smoke is due to over 488 wildfires in Canada, half of which are out of control. The smoke has caused problems throughout the country with New York famously having major issues with smog earlier in the month. The poor quality air can cause major issues for even healthy people, let alone people with health issues. 

 My Comment:

In my corner of Northeast Wisconsin the air quality index is 172, which is terrible. Anything over 100 is considered unhealthy and we are well past that. And we have had major issues with smoke throughout the month of June and it isn't getting better. Seeing the sunrise through a huge amount of smog was pretty surreal this morning... 

For me it has been rough. I've never had a good reaction to smoke and this has been no exception. I've been stuffy and coughing for much of the month, with it being even worse than "normal" yesterday. It's like my spring allergies never went away but also not really because I'm coughing way more than I would be if I was having my allergies. It doesn't help that I have to go outside pretty regularly. 

I think much of the problem is the relative lack of rain we have had in the Midwest recently. Big thunderstorms or consistent rain can take a lot of the smoke out of the air. Indeed, over the weekend we had a couple of days of rain for the first time in awhile. It was great, I could go outside and not cough afterwards. 

Unfortunately it didn't last. The rain went away and the smoke followed it. The forecast says that most of the smoke will be gone from our area in the next couple of days but making it to that part won't be fun. There might be a chance of some small thunderstorms tonight and I am hoping that will happen for sure. 

I am not sure why the fires are so bad in Canada. Part of it is also probably the weather along with an arsonist or two. But I thought Canada was more competent and putting out fires than this. I know Canada is a huge country with not that many people but I wish something was being done. If Canada can't handle these fires then perhaps America could send some help?

Either way, I have to say I am utterly sick of the smoke in the air. Summer is about the only time of year I actually enjoy and I hate that the smoke is ruining it. I really like to go fishing and doing other things outside and though I can still do them I will absolutely pay a price for it...