Haze from Canadian wildfires could hang over the Evansville/Tri-State area until at least mid-week, dropping the air quality to poor and potentially dangerous levels.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management placed the city in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” range, officials wrote in a news release Monday morning. The National Weather Service, meanwhile, released a map on Sunday that put Evansville in the “unhealthy” for everyone range, the next step up in severity.
In the former, the haze would largely affect children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses, among others. In the latter, almost anyone could feel effects after prolonged exposure.
According to the World Health Organization, contact can “exacerbate diseases of the lungs, heart, brain/nervous system, skin, gut, kidney, eyes, nose and liver.”
NWS confirmed the milky murk hanging over the city Monday morning was coming from Canadian smoke.
IDEM says the haze will be the thickest, naturally, in parts of the state closest to the fires themselves. That will include everywhere from Michigan City and Gary to Fort Wayne and South Bend. Effects, however, could dip as far south as Kentucky and even the northern border of Tennessee.
Where are the wildfires now?
A map maintained by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System shows the blazes stretching like a sash from the northwest corner of the country to the southeast.
“Out-of-control fires” cover that entire swath, with some raging right near the Canadian-Minnesota border.
It’s part of Canada’s wildfire season, which typically runs from the spring into early fall. But this year has been worse than others. Reuters reported climate change is exacerbating the problem. Warming temperatures create drier forests more prone to infernos sparked by everything from lightning to run-of-the-mill campfires. The warmth also makes wildfire season last longer.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: How long will wildfire haze, unhealthy air impact Evansville area?
Reporting by Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jon Webb, Evansville Courier & Press | USA TODAY Network
