Detroit Has Worst Air Pollution In The World

Detroit has the worst air pollution of any large city in the world. This is based on standard IQAir numbers. The reason is the Canadian wildfires, which are over 1,000 miles away. As they rage out of control, this gives people a good idea of their effect beyond the region where they are burning, which is lightly populated.

WXYZ in Detroit quoted Dr. Garen Wolff, allergist and immunologist at Detroit Medical Center, as saying, “I’ve had several patients tell me that their asthma symptoms have worsened, more specifically more chest tightness or just chest tightness in general, shortness of breath, wheezing.”

Danger To Human Health

City officials have encouraged people with preexisting conditions to stay indoors and suggested that others refrain from exercising. According to smoke maps, the wildfire smoke has spread across a region that covers most of Western Canada, the entire U.S. Midwest, and most of the U.S. East Coast. Some smoke has moved to Eastern Canada.

A map of the wildfires shows that they are no longer just in Western Canada. Many fires are burning out of control across much of the Nothern tier of the country. A large percentage of these are burning out of control.

One of the reasons the fire continues is that most of the affected areas are remote and inaccessible by road. It makes it impossible for large firefighting crews to reach them. 

These fires are likely to recur every year, accompanied by the smoke. Some of the fires in Eastern Canada never go out. They smolder for part of the year and flare up occasionally.

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