GLOBEALERT
Disaster● ElevatedJul 17 · Jul 17, 2026, 9:33 AM

'Like smoking cigarettes all day': Chicago chokes in wildfire smoke-heavy air

GlobeAlert Desk · curated from France 24 [en]

In the US, smoke from wildfires in Canada has resulted in a drop in air quality in cities including New York and Chicago. According to government data, around 5.9 million acres have burned during this wildfire season in Canada. Officials in parts of both Canada and the US are urging residents to stay indoors of possible, and wear a mask.

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Threat level
2 Elevated

Scored from severity, scale, escalation potential and source agreement. Below the alert threshold.

Sources
1 publisher

Single-source so far. Treat details as unconfirmed until more publishers report.

Category
Disaster

Not flagged as developing.

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'Like smoking cigarettes all day': Chicago chokes in wildfire smoke-heavy air · GlobeAlert