Hazy, smoky skies and vivid sunrises and sunsets across the region this week are a result of climate change—so are the Air quality alerts issued by the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission for Tuesday, June 6 and Wednesday, June 7.
We will continue to see hazy skies today. Why?
— NWS Wilmington OH (@NWSILN) June 5, 2023
This graphic illustrates the smoke that is being pulled southward from Quebec due to northerly winds. Higher concentrations of smoke are being seen in the Ohio Valley, with smoke even diving further southward into the Carolina's. pic.twitter.com/fCBCCONNAO
Both the local air quality alerts and smoky skies come from the wildfires blazing near Quebec, Canada. The smoke from those fires has traveled hundreds of miles southwest in the atmosphere to Ohio due to counter-clockwise winds, eventually settling in the Miami Valley.
“When you're located in a valley, what that often does is it kind of traps these nasty particulates in that lower terrain, whereas a little bit higher up, you can exchange that air a little bit more freely,” said Jana Houser, associate professor of atmospheric science at Ohio State University, in an interview with WYSO Tuesday.
Houser said extreme dryness due to climate change is causing more and more forest fires, even in places where they aren’t common — like Quebec. When atmospheric conditions are just right, the effects of the smoke from those fires are felt in far away places like Ohio.
“People just aren't at the point of giving up our love for fossil fuels,” she said. “It's unfortunately going to just exacerbate these types of conditions moving on into the future.”
Houser said the hazy skies and air quality problems should go away by Thursday, June 8 due to changing weather patterns.
She also said the unusual, colorful sunsets are due to how the light from the sun reflects off of the smoke particles in the air.
Update (Wednesday, June 7 at 11:00 pm) : an air quality alert has now been issued for Thursday, June 8 by the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission. The Ohio EPA has also issued a statewide air quality advisory.
