The Environmental Protection Agency says extensive swaths of the northern United States awoke to unhealthy air quality Monday morning or were experiencing it by midafternoon
. The particles, known as PM2.5, are tiny enough to get deep into the lungs and cause short-term problems like coughing and itchy eyes, and in the long run, can affect the lungs and heart.
Sensitive groups, including people with heart and lung disease, older adults, children and pregnant women, should consider staying inside, advisories warn. Relief from the smoke crossing the Canadian-U.S. border won't be immediate, experts said. Large fires in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan are likely to keep churning out smoke throughout the summer and possibly into early fall, said Montana Department of Environmental Quality meteorologist Aaron Ofseyer.
Climate change and rising temperatures cause the environment to be more prone to wildfires, and more susceptible for air masses to become stagnant and stationary, explained Dr. Ravi Kalhan, a pulmonologist and professor of medicine and preventative medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.“We keep having these events. They’re not just one bad day a year,” Kalhan said.
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