(BEAVER DAM) Canada is having its second-worst season for wildfires on record, and we’ve been feeling the effects in Wisconsin, thanks to weather patterns bringing wildfire smoke to the upper Great Lakes and the Northeast.
Experts say Canada is getting warmer and dryer, with longer summers, shorter winters, and less rain and snow.
“Everything is so dry. There isn’t enough moisture in the ground, and not enough snow pack to protect that stuff in the spring,” said Craig Czarnecki of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. “So wildfire season is starting earlier than it usually does. And when those wildfires start, they’re able to spread pretty quickly.”
A local expert says everyone should be careful when Canadian wildfire smoke triggers an Air Quality Alert. That goes especially for people with lung conditions like asthma or COPD.
“Air quality makes a huge difference,” Marshfield Clinic Medical Center-Beaver Dam respiratory therapist Charlotte Parker told the WBEV Morning Show Tuesday. “The particles in the air irritate the inside of the lungs, the throat, the nose, the sinuses, everything. So it’s going to make it more difficult to breathe.”
People can track air quality every day online or weather apps. People with lung conditions should either wear a mask or stay indoors and use their medications wisely.
The air quality in southern Wisconsin is improving. The last of the current air quality advisories expired at noon on Tuesday, but 700 wildfires are still burning in Canada.
