Weather Forecasts Aren’t Made for Smoke Like This
The article discusses the increasing frequency of wildfire smoke in the U.S. and the limitations of current air-quality index (AQI) metrics. It argues that as climate change makes smoke events more common, better tools are needed to help the public navigate health risks.
Why it matters
As wildfire smoke becomes a recurring public health issue, the need for more accurate and actionable environmental data is becoming critical for daily life.
We need a better way to know when it’s safe outside.
Stephen Zenner / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty July 24, 2026, 7:45 AM ET Share Save The air is bad this summer. Really, it’s historically disgusting. Smoke from wildfires has gusted over people’s homes, spreading haze and yellowing the sky. Last week, four midwestern cities—Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Toledo—reached the highest levels of particulate pollution they’ve recorded in two decades. For more than 100 million Americans across at least 20 states, the weather was grim: fumy with a chance of scattered lung conditions.
The air was bad like this two years ago, during that summer’s set of conflagrations—and let’s not forget the epic plumes of 2021, which turned the full moon over New York City a ghastly shade of red. Welcome to the new America: the land of burning throats.
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