Iowa is once again engulfed in wildfire smoke from Canada and Iowans are noticing hazy skies.
With so much smoke in the air, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has issued an air quality advisory for the entire state through Wednesday.
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Forecasters with the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities said on Twitter that air quality was even worse than expected, with smoke reaching the ground. Air quality has reached unhealthy levels throughout Iowa and the upper Midwest.
NWS advised to limit time spent outside, or wear a mask for prolonged periods spent outdoors. Much of eastern Iowa was the most impacted, with several cities in the “very unhealthy” range, including Iowa City.
Air quality in Iowa City as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to AirNow.gov, was at a “Very unhealthy” level of 224. AirNow, home of the U.S. Air Quality Index, recommends that residents “limit or avoid” physical activity outdoors during such poor air quality.
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The local air quality sky-rocketed from its “unhealthy level” of 162 Tuesday around the lunch hour, up to 223 by 2:30 p.m. The government entity urged residents to “reduce outdoor activity” and consider moving all activities indoors early Tuesday, but increased their advisory to more extreme levels shortly after.
The air quality in Cedar Rapids around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday was at a “very unhealthy” level of 264, the highest level in the state.
Air quality was as low as 30 Monday afternoon in Iowa City, sitting comfortably in the green “good” zone. The levels began quickly rising at 7 a.m. Tuesday,
Smoke from wildfires causing smoky Iowa skies, poor air quality this week
This week, local fires won’t be to blame for smoky skies and poor air quality in Iowa. Iowa’s skies will be smoky for most of this week due to winds pushing smoke from Canadian wildfires into Iowa.
More smoke will be concentrated in eastern Iowa.
How does smoke contribute to poor air quality?
Even smoke from burning leaves, grass, brush, and plants contains high concentrations of pollutants, according to the Iowa DNR. These pollutants can include carbon monoxide, particulate matter, toxic chemicals, and reactive gasses that can contribute to smog formation.
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Air Quality Index – Current Conditions
“Once pollutants are in the air, there is no way to prevent them from depositing on crops and water sources,” according to Iowa DNR.
Particulate matter, which includes airborne particles such as dust, dirt, soot and smoke, can contribute to pollution and cause health defects. This pollution can cause chronic bronchitis, asthma attacks, decreased lung function, coughing, painful breathing, cardiac problems and heart attacks, as well as a variety of serious environmental impacts such as acidification of lakes and streams and nutrient depletion in soils and water bodies.
How does Iowa’s air quality in 2023 compare to previous years?
In 2021, Iowa had 80 moderate air quality days, and one day that was unhealthy for sensitive groups, with zero days out of the year being unhealthy, very unhealthy or hazardous, according to the U.S. Environment Protection Agency.
In 2022, Iowa only had 37 moderate days and zero days that were unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy or hazardous.
On May 24, the National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for all of Iowa as ozone levels were nearing federal health standards. Before this alert, there had not been one sent out since 2021.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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