I'm not an air quality control specialist, but I don't think it's rocket science to know this thick air we've been having in Illinois is very unsafe.

When I left for work yesterday, the air was totally fine and nothing was out of the ordinary.  Then, when I got out of work I noticed it was super foggy outside and it was kind of hard to breathe.

Read More: Illinois Air Quality in Rockford Reaches 'Dangerous' Level 

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Low and behold, we had an Air Quality Warning from the Weather Service and the air quality was at a 236... that's really bad.  Anything lower than 100 is considered pretty healthy to put it into perspective.

It's so bad that Chicago was ranked #1 for WORST air quality in the world.

I don't know much about the Canadian wildfires, but apparently that's what has been affecting the air quality here in the Midwest.

"This year's wildfire season is the worst on record in Canada, with some 76,000 square kilometres (29,000 square miles) burning across eastern and western Canada." [Reuters]

 

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Related: Only Kind of Smoke We Want to Smell in Illinois This Summer

Limiting your time outside is probably best right now, which sucks because it's summer and we want to be outside as much as possible enjoying the weather!

“We recommend children, teens, seniors, people with heart or lung disease, and individuals who are pregnant avoid strenuous activities and limit their time outdoors,” Johnson said in a statement Tuesday." [nbcnews]

Who's really to blame, though?  I don't know, but if this is Canada's way of saying they'll smoke us in any competition, they definitely won haha.

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