By Leah Shephard/for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

On several days this summer, Ohioans awoke to their homes and neighborhoods shrouded in haze from the smoke of wildfires burning in Nova Scotia, Canada. Experts say it's unclear whether air quality issues will continue into the fall.

The wildfires, which started in May, have since sent much of the eastern United States indoors because of air quality advisories. Bad air quality could cause health problems for vulnerable groups if it persists, experts say.

Sam Rubens, administrator of the Akron Regional Air Quality Management District of Summit County Public Health, said it depends on air flow patterns.

"The smoke stuff, from the fires in Canada," he said. "If they go out, which they're not out right now, they're still burning away, it's all based on the wind. If the wind patterns set up, then the smoke is going to come."

Rubens compared the way the smoke flows to a campfire; the smoke follows the wind.

"The smoke is going somewhere," he said. "And it's going to be affecting someone."

"Air quality in general can affect everybody, even people who have healthy lungs," said Dr. Angela Marko, a pediatric pulmonologist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. "But the main concern is for those who have underlying respiratory conditions. So, for instance, things like asthma or other chronic lung diseases."

Marko said the reason for this is that many people with these conditions already have sensitive airways and lungs, and exposure to bad air quality can trigger their disease processes. She said this can manifest in shortness of breath and asthma flare-ups.

Marko said that while the very young and very old are most affected by bad air quality, everyone is at risk from continuous exposure.

"Over time, we know that air pollution in general. . . is not great for respiratory health in general as we age, if we're continually exposed to it," she said. "And so it can put you at risk into adulthood just for having other respiratory conditions."

Marko said this can manifest in COPD, a chronic lung disease that causes obstructed airways in the lungs, and other lung conditions as an individual ages.

While Northeast Ohio has only had six unhealthy or hazardous air quality days in 20 years, Rubens said three of those have been this summer.

He said that "particulate matter," or the particles in the air that make air quality unhealthy or hazardous, is the main concern of the Summit County health department.

"The reason that we have particulate matter, or ozone, as a pollutant of concern is because there's a level at which you're okay," Rubens said. "That if you breathe in a certain level, it's not going to have a health effect."

He said, though, that those with respiratory problems, chronic ailments and children are at higher risk when breathing in pollutants. That means the threshold is lower for the amount of dangerous air these individuals can breathe in.

Rubens urged Ohioans to stay aware of bad air-quality days as the wildfires still rage.

"Just be aware of what the air quality index is showing," he said.

Woody Woodward, executive director of the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association, said the impact has been "minimal" on the Ohio Parks and Recreation. He said that what concerns him most is the effect wildfires and other natural disasters may have on the environment as a whole.

"It's fairly well known that Parks and Recreation has been on the front line in terms of protecting our environment, creating clean, safe spaces for people to recreate but also really working hard to protect our natural resources," Woodward said.

He said prevention is key.

"First and foremost we want to be on the front lines in terms of preventing things from getting worse and also kind of continuing to educate the public about the dangers of climate change and kind of the path that we've headed down," Woodward said. "But also working hard to protect natural resources as we do that."


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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The Colorado Department of Transportation is investing nearly $32 million to help local governments and other stakeholders transition to electric vehicles, including adding new electric buses to transit fleets.

Matthew Inzeo, communications director with the Colorado Department of Transportation, believes this initial investment will help set the stage for towns and cities to continue to add more electric vehicles in future years.

"Even though we're talking about vehicles by the dozens, it also indicates that our local transit systems are now in a position where they're ready to take these cleaner vehicles into their fleets," he said.

The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority will replace ten diesel-fueled buses with battery-powered vehicles. Breckenridge will add seven, Winter Park and Avon will each add two, and Boulder, Fort Collins and Telluride will each add one new electric bus to their fleets. Nonprofits serving children and people with disabilities are also getting money to purchase electric vans.

Investments are also being made in the infrastructure required to power and maintain electric vehicles, including connecting new solar canopies to the electric grid, and adding more charging stations. Inzeo says these investments can help reduce dozens of trips currently made by car, and get polluting diesel buses off the roads.

"The technology has actually gotten to a place where they can be rolling around your city without polluting at all. That's an incredible win. And really just easy low-hanging fruit that we can finally go pick to make local streets and local communities have cleaner air," Inzeo continued.

Money for electric buses, new facilities and infrastructure comes from Colorado's Clean Transit Enterprise created in 2021, and settlement funds the state received from Volkswagen designed to offset the impacts of the company's diesel-emissions cheating scandal.


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New research suggests humans aren't the only ones experiencing negative effects from wildfire smoke.

Researchers are studying Ponderosa pines, which inhabit much of the western United States, and they're finding that smoke may be affecting trees and many more kinds of plants - including food crops.

Research co-author Delphine Farmer, a chemistry professor at Colorado State University, said they don't yet know the full extent of the effects of wildfire smoke on plant life, but they do know it can impact the economy in some surprising ways.

"Oregon has some amazing wine, and in the wine that's grown there, there are a lot of concerns about smoke taint," she said. "And that's when the gases and particles of smoke actually get into the grapes and impact the taste and flavor of the wine."

She said they've found that smoke can cause plants to close their pores and even pause photosynthesis. This may mean shorter and slower growing periods, with unpredictable consequences for crop growth and output. Farmer added that the best solution is to work to manage the effects of climate change.

While forest fires have been part of a healthy forest's life cycle for centuries, the rate and intensity of recent fires has ramped up. As Oregon faces yearly major wildfire seasons, Farmer said it's important to find ways to mitigate the smoke exposure.

"As we move to stronger effects of climate change, and global change induced by human activity, we know we are going to be seeing more of these wildfire events," she said. "And so, the best way to reduce smoke exposure - whether it's to humans or to plants - is really to reduce the number of wildfire events."

She added that human behavior led to this increase in wildfire smoke - and emphasized the smoke will, in turn, affect human behavior. She recommended that people advocate for better firefighting techniques for at-risk areas and promote better climate policies.


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Under the federal Clean Air Act, Kentucky is required to keep haze air pollution under control in Mammoth Cave National Park.

Critics said the state's current plan falls short. Coal-fired power plants are the driving cause of air pollution impairing visibility in the Commonwealth, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

Ashley Wilmes, executive director of the Kentucky Resources Council, said the state's current Draft Regional Haze State Implementation Plan only considers two facilities as significant pollution emitters, despite evidence there are more.

"There has to be a detailed analysis of additional major polluters in Kentucky that are contributing to this haze," Wilmes asserted. "They did not do this analysis for other major coal plants, including Ghent and Mill Creek, Trimble Station and others."

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet hears virtual public comments on the plan tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET.

Ulla Reeves, clean air program director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said several major polluters in the region are contributing to poor air quality.

"We see in Kentucky that Mammoth Cave is actually one of the most polluted national parks in the entire country," Reeves pointed out. "It is surrounded by polluting facilities."

Bryon Gary, program attorney for the council, said advocates are asking the state to include additional pollutants and facilities, and address environmental justice impacts to surrounding communities. He added residents' input will be considered by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"The public will have the opportunity to give those comments," Gary noted. "Then at some later point, the Energy Environment Cabinet will develop a written response to comments that will be submitted to EPA, along with their final state implementation plan."

Exposure to the air pollution particles triggering haze can cause breathing problems, lung cancer, heart attacks and low birth weight in newborn babies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.