As senior Avery Paterson roamed the streets of France last summer, she checked her phone and found a slew of concerned messages from her family regarding the air quality in Northbrook.
“I was concerned for the state of the environment and what was happening anywhere in the [United States] or in the world,” said Paterson. “I definitely thought about what it would be like if the smoke moved [to France], how it would look outside, how it would affect people who had trouble breathing, if it would interrupt my activities.”
Air quality is determined based on how clean or polluted the air is, and it is measured using the Air Quality Index.
“The way that the Air Quality Index is calculated is from the observations of a number of different air pollutants,” said Jessica Kleiss, associate professor of environmental studies at Lewis & Clark College.
Scientists can measure air quality by putting a cubic meter of air into a centrifuge, which spins the air around so that all of the particles get thrown to the outer edges, Kleiss said.
After the air is spun by the centrifuge, scientists weigh the particles. The Air Quality Index’s number is determined by how many kilograms of particulate matter are in one cubic meter of air. The Air Quality Index displayed on weather apps is calculated this way. The larger the number on the scale, the worse the quality of the air is.
Central and eastern parts of the United States experienced poor air quality over the summer due to smoke traveling from wildfires that were primarily in Canada.
This summer, the air quality reached over 200 in Northbrook, being deemed as “Very Unhealthy” by the Air Quality Index.
Forest fires are an extreme and acute cause of poor air quality, Kleiss said.
“The smoke contains particulate matter, and particulate matter is dust and solid things, like the soot from the fire, and that is really harmful for us if we breathe it,” Kleiss said.
According to Bob Wilson, associate professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Syracuse University, the main reason these fires are getting worse is climate change.
“[Burning fossil fuels] releases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” said Wilson. “And carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, so it traps heat. So if we’re trapping that heat, and the earth is getting warmer, it’s putting stress on things like the forests in northern Canada and making them more susceptible to these wildfires.”
There can be many sources of poor air quality, such as exhaust from vehicles and smoke from factories’ smokestacks, both of which contain particulate matter.
“That particulate matter that gets into our lungs and our bloodstream can be highly damaging and really bad for people who have underlying medical conditions, such as emphysema, lung cancer or if they’re elderly or if they are young,” Wilson said.
There are several things people can do everyday to improve the quality of air they breathe.
“Open a window,” said Kleiss. “Indoor air quality is usually worse than the outdoor air quality.”
A filtration system can help filter the air of dangerous particulate matter to help improve the air quality indoors.
Candles are one of the worst sources of air pollution because they are like mini forest fires in each person’s house, Kleiss said.
According to Wilson, high school students can also write to elected officials and encourage them to support renewable energy and pass legislation forcing companies to reduce fossil fuel emissions.
If climate change continues to get worse, the planet’s susceptibility to forest fires will increase, which increases the chances of poor air quality.
“If you want to do something, if you want to deal with these wildfires long-term, you have to do something about climate change,” said Wilson. “Or these fires and the smoke from them, even though you’re very young, that is going to be part of the rest of your life.”