Drifting smoke from the ongoing wildfires across Canada is creating curtains of haze and raising air quality concerns throughout the Great Lakes region and in parts of the central and eastern United States.

The worst air quality in the US on Tuesday afternoon was found in Illinois, lower Michigan and southern Wisconsin, while air quality in Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee was rated “very unhealthy,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow.gov website. ,

As hazy clouds hung over the skyline of Minneapolis and St. Paul, a record-breaking 23rd air quality advisory for Minnesota was issued Tuesday for much of the state late Wednesday. The Michigan State Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy has issued an advisory on air quality. A statewide air quality alert was also issued by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Officials in Chicago advised citizens with health issues, children and older people to spend more time indoors.

Shelley Woinowski, who was at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, said, “Driving by the zoo … you could see all around the buildings, just like a mist.”

Due to poor air quality on Tuesday, some Chicago-area daycare centres have informed parents that their children will remain indoors only. However, one youth sports organisation claims to have changed its programs to include additional indoor time.

According to a press statement from Mayor Brandon Johnson, “As long as these unsafe conditions persist, the City will continue to provide updates and take swift action to ensure vulnerable people have the resources they need to protect themselves and their families.”

According to executive director Leif Erickson, Flight for Life Wisconsin was unable to respond to a motorcycle-van accident in the Milwaukee area because the Federal Aviation Administration requires 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) of visibility, and visibility is only between 3/4 and Was. 1.5 miles (1.2–2.4 kilometres) due to hazy skies.

Smoke from the fires in northern Quebec and low pressure over the eastern Great Lakes is spreading into northern Michigan, southern Wisconsin and Chicago, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Jackson.

Jackson said the smoke will move south on Tuesday night and Wednesday and reach Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

As of January 1, 76,129 square kilometres (29,393 sq mi) of land, including forests, have burned across Canada, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center reports. According to the National Forestry Database, this surpasses the previous record of 75,596 square kilometres (29,187 sq mi), achieved in 1989.

It is believed that 255 of the 490 blazes currently raging across the country are out of control.

Wildfires raging in Quebec’s northern region may not be put out even by recent rain, officials said Tuesday, but rainy weather could give firefighters a chance to get ahead of the flames.

In Canada, more than a quarter of all active fires occur in Quebec. Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault predicted that the rain in the areas most affected by the wildfires would end by Wednesday morning.

The Northeast United States and the Great Lakes region were hit by major Canadian wildfires earlier this month, turning the air greenish-brown and warning people to stay inside and keep their windows closed Went.

Wildfire smoke contains tiny particles that can irritate the eyes, nose and throat as well as the heart and lungs, making breathing more difficult. To reduce the inhalation of these particles, health professionals recommend limiting outdoor activities as much as possible.

According to Jackson, the risk remains until the fire is extinguished. “If there is a northern component in the air it is likely to be smoky.”

In a reminder of the effects of climate change, US President Joe Biden said in a statement in early June that hundreds of US firemen and support workers have been working in Canada since May.

According to Joel Thornton, professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington, warming of the planet will result in hotter, longer heat waves, which will lead to larger, smoky flames.

Chicago’s Tuesday smog, which started the race along the lake, is “bad,” according to Preeti Marwah.

He continued, “Like, you can smell it horrible.” It’s going to be risky today; I run 100 miles per week. You can feel it, and I can feel it in my lungs just from parking there and getting out.

Late Monday, wildfire smoke began to spread across Minnesota, and it is forecast that ground-level smoke will remain in southern, east-central and northeastern Minnesota. This includes the Twin Cities area as well as the northeast, southwest, and southeast ends of the state.

Tuesday was the 23rd air quality alert in Minnesota this year, up from the previous high of 21 for 2021, according to a tweet from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. In Minnesota, a season typically sees two to three alerts.

Due to smoke from Canadian wildfires, St. Paul recorded the worst air quality in the United States two weeks ago. Around noon on Tuesday, air quality was “unhealthy” in eastern Minnesota from the Canadian border to the Iowa border.

According to the MPCA, a cold front will move over Minnesota on Wednesday, bringing fresh air from the west by early Thursday.

But for Dan Daly, a St. Louis Park, Minnesota resident, on Tuesday, the upcoming break meant nothing.

You can’t spend too much time outside, so some days are terrible, he remarked.

When he left the house this morning, Daly claimed he could smell and taste smoke. He saw the sky overcast and wondered whether it would be normal to have summer in the region. When the air quality makes it dangerous to be outside, Daly finds it difficult to engage in outdoor activities she loves, such as hiking, camping and walking around town.

He worries that people in other areas of the country who haven’t experienced poor air quality days may dismiss it as a minor problem. Daly remarked that, if he believed the smoke was not so terrible, he should come here and see it for himself.