South Bend suffers worst air quality on record amid Canadian wildfires

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- A smokey haze descended over South Bend Tuesday, blanketing the city in a thick, white smog, a byproduct of Canada’s raging wildfires.  

“There’s a definite haze about the city, the visibility is really poor,” said Notre Dame student, Anne-Marie Freely. “I can actually really feel it in my chest and in my eyes as well, how it’s been quite aggravated.” 

South Bend suffered the worst air quality on record.  

For some, like Tricia Klein, the haze is a stark reminder about the grim consequences if nothing is done to curb climate change.  

“It’s incredibly concerning, however, it’s not surprising. This is the effects of climate change,” Klein said. “It does worry me. We have our children here; my nieces and nephews live here.”  

“This is not something that is going to just affect now, it’s going to affect years and years from now. Is this the type of thing you want your children to grow up with?” Klein continued. “We’re at the cusp, the precipice, of what’s going to be correctible or not correctible. So do we make change now, or do we just watch it go by?”

The government "AirNow" website puts South Bend in the "very unhealthy" category, meaning it's a bad idea to go outside if you can avoid it, and it can even be dangerous to exercise outdoors.  

“We were supposed to play volleyball this evening, and we canceled it now because you shouldn’t be exercising or just out in the open like this,” Freely said.  
It's best to stay indoors Tuesday and most of Wednesday, where a mask if you go outside (an n95 if you have it), and keep track of the air quality index in your area.