The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has posted a story about the record-setting number of Air Quality Index (AQI) Alerts that have taken place this year.
The majority of the alerts are due to the Canadian wildfires that have been burning since this spring in remote areas of Canada and are expected to continue burning until snow puts them out in the coming months.
In all 20 AQI alerts covering 52 days have been issued, breaking the old record of 13 alerts covering 42 days in 2021. The red designation (dangerous for all) has typically been issued once every few years, but in 2023, a whopping 14 red AQI alerts have been issued.
To learn more about the air quality issues of 2023, check out the story on the MPCA website.