According to the city’s Health Department’s Air Quality Division, Cleveland is again on health alert because elevated particulate matter levels were largely caused by wildfires in Canada.
The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) also issued an alert on Monday, July 17, as “particulate matter levels are in the ‘unhealthy’ range.”
Both air quality recommendations recommend that vulnerable people — those with heart or lung conditions, older adults, babies and young children — stay indoors with windows closed and avoid outdoor activities. All other residents are advised to limit strenuous and prolonged outdoor activities.
As of 10 a.m., the Cleveland-Akron-Lorain area had air quality with a particulate matter rating of 2.5, which is small enough for particles to enter the lungs and bloodstream. There, the particles cause inflammation and subsequently cause plaque to break away from artery walls, possibly triggering a heart attack.
The warning follows a similar warning in late June that called for the closure of outdoor camps and other summer events Chris Ronayne, Cuyahoga County Executive State of the County speech at Jacobs Pavilion, postponed two days.
The smoke-filled air is a combination of hundreds of coast-to-coast wildfires across Canada that have burned more than 20 million acres and the El Nino weather phenomenon, which is causing a decline in the jet stream that brings smoke to the United States
Air quality warnings were issued Monday in the Great Lakes and in Midwest and Upper West states. The US Environmental Protection Agency provides hourly air quality updates at airnow.gov.
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