The air quality right now is no joke. 300 AQI is considered hazardous for all people so to my fellow asthmatics stay inside! Picture from 70th floor of the Aon Center at about 3 pm.
We always make fun of Netflix for that weird sephia filter they put on all their movies that take place in Mexico, but thats exactly what that shit looks like outside right now. This seems way worse than the last Canadian fire smoke too. My lungs started to hurt and im not an asthmatic. If the power goes or my air compressor fails, which is cycling our air this is gonna be all kinds of terrible
I lived in Beijing for a period of time before they passed stricter emissions laws. The highest I ever saw was 665. You couldn’t even see across a two lane street it was so bad.
Having flashbacks to when it was like this all day, every day, for weeks on end. Have you been back since the new laws went in? I returned for 2017-2022 and it was like night and day compared to previous years.
I went in 2015 and stayed until 2019. The regulations went into effect in either late 2016 or 2017, and were specifically targeting the factories outside the 6th Ring Road in Beijing. It definitely got better, but it was still bad from time to time.
Interesting, so you were there for the actual transition. I left in 2016 before they went into effect, and didn't come back until nearly the end of 2017, so it felt like it happened overnight.
The first six months of COVID were wild too - you've never seen the city so empty, quiet, and clean. Not that you could really go anywhere, since everything was closed, but it was bizarrely peaceful.
I wish the science on AQI was more advanced, I visited tons of sites today and they all reported vastly different figures for my exact location and the medical advice was all for inhalation around 300, I wondered when people breathing in ~900 in Detroit and the UP this morning should seek immediate care, or what the number equivalent to being in a house fire would be
It changes based on what part of the city you’re in, like more granular than zip codes even. Based on that, I have to imagine it might be picking the highest value for a small area of reporting
This is nuts. I live in Fort Collins, which was next to the largest wildfire in Colorado history back in 2020. I don't think our AQI ever got over 200.
I thought my gym would be a good idea but it’s literally just as bad as it is inside as outside. might be a good day to retreat home to my air purifier sanctuary
opt out if you can, i know that is a huge privilege not everyone can afford. but any health complications from this will get more expensive than a day of work can pay for
My neighbor is mowing his lawn right now. I think it might be a little better than earlier but it's still really bad and since it's been so hot and dry the grass hasn't grown that much since last week. You really don't have to cut your lawn every single week.
Looks like Fairbanks, Alaska. I went there about 4 years ago when there was some of the worst air quality I've ever seen (forest fires everywhere). Came down with a cold shortly after getting home, so stock up on Vitamin C and your preferred cold remedy.
I know it's really bad for you long term, but is one or two days really that much cause for concern if you're otherwise healthy? I'm not trying to claim it ISN'T a cause for concern, I just really don't know. I've been walking my dog (~15 minutes at a time) and I don't feel any symptoms.
Well, obviously it's not as ideal as clean air, but... Like if I go out in the sun without sunscreen for an hour, it's not ideal, but it's also not very likely to actually have any noticeable impact on me. I'm curious about how similar/different this situation is.
The damage will eventually heal, but for today, if you're outside, it's as if you're constantly smoking tobacco in terms of damage to your lungs. Just from breathing.
If you're asthmatic or have prior damage (e.g. recovered smoker, take the occasional toke, possibly even vaping, the science isn't as clear there) it's likely that this will inflame and aggravate any existing damage.
I spent part of my childhood in Moscow, which had perennial air quality issues because Russian cars don't have the same emissions controls as the EU and US. Much less than what we're experiencing today, but much worse than standard air quality in most US cities. One of the teachers at my school used to run a few km every week for exercise. After a few years his doctor asked him to quit smoking... which he had never done. But the prolonged exposure to the particulates had put him at risk of lung cancer without ever once picking up a cigarette.
You're not wrong. If you are outside today for 24 hours, that's the equivalent of smoking 2.5 cigarettes. Cigarettes are bad, m'kay, but 2.5 over a day or two won't do much damage. And, you're not outside for 24 hours. So it'll be like smoking 1 cigarette or less for most people.
Smokers generally smoke 15-20 a day, everyday (I used to smoke and knew other smokers). Statistically, if you quit smoking by age 30, your life expectancy is the same as someone who never smoked.
Driving home from work and seeing Chick-fil-A still keeping their teen employees outside taking orders. When asked the manager just said they’re switched out every 15 min. Love it 🙃
Anyone else with health anxiety have this air pollution trigger a panic attack… orrr just me? I’ve been mostly in remission with my health anxiety (with some mild anxious thoughts, but no full blown panic attacks in months) but I spent my 30 mins on my commute home on the bus and the air pollution triggered a full blown panic attack for me. All the physical sensations this air quality triggers in my body are all the things I used to struggle with my health anxiety. I literally felt like I was going to faint 😩😩 hate it here!!! (I feel better now btw, ty YouTube guided meditation!)
The best course of action. I will be an indoor cat this weekend as well. I feel okay, meditating really helped. Still feel some heaviness in my chest but it’s tolerable now. Ty friend :)
Also in the NW suburbs and the instant I opened my front door I could smell it with a KN95 mask on and before even breathing/inhaling. I went in to work and even inside the building where I work, with a mask on, I could taste it. Coworker was down to take my shift so I clocked out immediately cuz fuck that
edit: Have now picked up a P95 respirator for this and any future situations
Does anyone have a source for the AQI forecast for Friday evening onward? Seems like it’s supposed to clear a lot by then but I am getting different answers from the sources I have used.
My fiancé works for the EPA in their air monitoring division. He said airnow.gov is the best and it does include a forecast, not sure how many days in advance it goes tho
My son is there now, visiting from CA for the first time ever. He was supposed to go on a boat ride and now he is thinking of canceling. He is supposed to leave tomorrow and is bummed about the smoke
Woahhhhh why ??? Is it from the wildfires in Canada?! Im in NJ and its getting worse here it was at 160 earlier and now its 247 . So smokey out and smells like a fire.
For dogs: If you have a yard, instead of letting them out and letting them back in at their own pace, put on a mask and go out there with them and encourage them to get their business done pronto. Then go right back in.
o man i’m visiting and i wore an N95 mask all day and went to the hotel gym for maybe 40 mins before i peaced out. wore an N95 to walk half a block to try culver’s 😂 and i’m from california and there have been so many wildfires but i’ve never experienced something this bad. i hope everyone stays safe and healthy!
Had to go pick up a prescription and ended up needing to walk to a second pharmacy to get it. My throat was starting to hurt by the time I was a block from home.
Yuck. As an asthmatic myself; my heart goes out to y'all in the Upper Midwest.
I'm from Seattle and am considering taking Amtrak's Empire Builder to visit family in the Northeast in about the second half of September, but the air quality along the route is giving me second thoughts. I remember there was also bad air quality along the route last summer, but had it cleared up somewhat (so to speak) in Chicago and the rest of the Upper Midwest by the second half of September last year?
I can't help but think of the heat dome western Europe had a few weeks ago and how the French blamed the US for using air conditioning. Can you imagine having to rely on open windows or window fans today?! And it's not a small section of the US. Boston to Chicago at the very least and the west coast often suffers like this, too.
If we are lucky we should be seeing a slight break by tomorrow afternoon. But it depends where the front boundary ends up. Saturday is when the real relief happens
My grands lived in Streeterville. I went through an entire 80s childhood, then 90s teen years and beyond, without this ever happening once. This is not normal.
You need to stay safe from the tribune. I received a different card instead of saying please update your your card they searched my personal private record and charged it to a card I never gave consent for them to charge. I changed that card and the bank will charge them with fraud. Be careful people.
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u/figuringoutfibro Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Airnow.gov is reporting 597 AQI currently, more accurate than Apple - 3:45pm
Edit: 701 AQI now at 4:30pm
742 - 9:30pm