Wildfire smoke stifling Chicago area is tied to climate change, experts say

Haze from Canadian wildfire smoke that has settled in Chicago on Thursday is directly connected to climate change, according to experts, who said days like this could be more problematic moving forward.

The Chicago Park District canceled all outdoor activities, moving kids inside on Thursday due to air quality that reached as high as 638 as of 4:45 p.m., in the "extremely hazardous" category, ranking as the worst air quality in the world.

"We plan to have everything as is until we can't anymore," Chicago Park District area manager Dennis Gonzalez said.

Beaches and outdoor pools also were closed to protect lifeguards, and Park District landscaping and forestry staff were kept inside. Special outdoor events that couldn't be moved inside were rescheduled.

"It's not safe for kids, and it's not safe for any of our staff, people that work outside," Gonzalez said. "It's bad outside right now, and at all costs they should avoid it."

Susan Mudd, an attorney and senior policy advocate for the Environmental Law and Policy Center, an expert on clean air initiatives, said the Canadian wildfires creating the smoke that has blanketed much of the Midwest and Northeast is connected to climate change.

"Our changing climate, as experts have been telling us for years, is making air quality worse. It's making it unhealthy for humans to breathe. It's also causing droughts, flooding, all the extremes," she said. "Why do we have wildfire smoke? Because of climate change."

She said that means more days when outdoor activities have to be moved inside if we don't start addressing what's contributing to our warming climate.

Environmental experts also said days like this are an example of why so many have pushed back on changes and rollbacks made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration.

Greenhouse gas emissions are scientifically proven to contribute to climate change, but in February the EPA repealed the "endangerment finding," which provides the legal and scientific underpinning for the federal government to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. 

That means the federal government will no longer regulate greenhouse gases emitted from sources like cars, trucks and power plants.

More cuts are being considered to rollback emission standards.

"They're rolling back standards for truck emissions, for car emissions," Mudd said. "The way they are going now with rolling back standards will lead to more wildfires. It will lead to more emissions from cars and trucks and power plants. All of those will make Americans' – including Chicago residents – health worse."

A spokesperson for the union representing EPA workers in Chicago said in a statement, in part, "EPA is actively rolling back several key ozone and air pollution regulations."

"Major actions include repealing the 'Good Neighbor Plan', relaxing heavy-duty truck emissions standards, and revising nonattainment area mandates that penalized states for failing to meet air quality milestones, all of which impact the Chicago area. Add to this failing to regulate climate change, which is a contributing cause of the massive wildfires," said Nicole Cantello, President of AFGE Local 704.

Officials at the EPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.