No, it’s not the persistent fog hanging outside — smoke from Canadian wildfires that have crossed the borders. It was said that currently fires are raging across Canada, with the biggest impact being on the province of Ontario, where more than 100 fires are burning.
That smoke has reached the US, affecting air quality primarily in the Midwest, East and parts of the North. If you live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Virginia, Washington, DC, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, be sure to stay indoors as much as possible. More than 100 million people have been affected by unhealthy, hazardous air quality in the past few days.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) AirNow site It has a handy Air Quality Index (AQI) chart that grades the air quality in your town or city Through numerical scale and colors To help you understand the effects on your health. The scale ranges from zero to 500 with six different colors. The first, green, is good, with a range of zero to 50: it “indicates there is no threat from air pollution.”
Yellow means moderate, with a range from 51 to 100. This indicates “some risk to people with high sensitivity to air pollution”. Orange is “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” sitting at 101 to 150. If you are highly sensitive to air pollution, you will likely experience side effects. Red is unhealthy, numerically ranging from 151 to 200, meaning there is now “some risk to the general public and a risk of serious health effects for people with high sensitivity to air pollution.”
The last two colors are danger areas. Purple, which is “very unhealthy” and ranges from 201 to 300, “indicates increased health risks for everyone.” Maroon is dangerous, the most dangerous level, with a range from 301 to 500. This means it is an emergency that is “likely to affect everyone.”
Amanda Montanez/Air Quality Index (AQI) Basics/AirNow
You can search for the Air Quality Index code for your area by your zip code, city or state on the AirNow site. It will tell you your number and color, as well as instructions on how to stay safe until the danger passes. Thankfully, relief can be found Changing patterns of rain, cold fronts, and wind in the lower Great Lakes region and the Northeast, starting tonight and through Saturday.
