Environmental News - Chicago Tribune

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Chicago records second ‘very unhealthy’ air quality day, but predicting when smoke will clear is ‘uncharted territory’

Forecasters had predicted improved conditions for Wednesday, but air quality and visibility remained the same or worsened, weather officials said. That’s because dynamics like location and weather patterns make the smoke’s path difficult to predict.

Photos: Canadian wildfire smoke obscures Chicago in haze

Tribune photographers captured moments around the city as thick smoke hung in the air.

Rainfall likely won’t be enough to extinguish Canadian wildfires causing poor air quality in Chicago, officials say

Currently there are 490 fires burning nationally, with 255 of them considered to be out of control.

Harvard Health: How to cope when smoke affects air quality and health

Just like fossil fuel pollution from burning coal, oil, and gas, wildfires create hazardous gases and tiny particles of varying sizes (known as particulate matter, or PM10, PM2.5, PM0.1) that are harmful to breathe.

Chicago’s air quality: ‘We’re in the crosshairs.’ Wildfires and wind push region’s air to worst in the world, global pollution index shows.

Health officials said Chicagoans should take these precautions: Avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep outdoor activities short, consider moving physical activities indoors or rescheduling them, consider wearing masks, run air purifiers and close windows.

Removing brain-damaging lead from day cares is aim of new Cook County initiative

The $15 million cost to remove lead lines from hundreds of home daycares will be funded through federal pandemic relief money.

NASCAR in Chicago: On top of a stretch of wildfire smoke, how will 40 cars racing around downtown at speeds over 100 mph affect air quality?

NASCAR likely will have an environmental impact on Chicago, but when compared to the normal amount of conventional vehicles that are downtown, it may be nominal, some experts say.

DOT is awarding $1.7 billion to buy electric and low-emission buses

The grants will enable transit agencies and state and local governments to buy 1,700 U.S.-built buses, nearly half of which will have zero carbon emissions.

New federal designation called ‘very significant’ for Fox River

Kane County officials believe a recent national designation will help make the Fox River an even bigger asset to the Fox Valley.

Environmentists oppose extension of Ogden Dunes revetment along Lake Michigan shoreline

A little more than three years ago, Lake Michigan was at its highest level in more than 30 years, and waves dashed up against the sheet steel piling that lakefront homeowners in the town of Ogden Dunes had installed in the 1980s and 1990s.

Water being tested where freight train carrying hazardous material plunged into Yellowstone River

Authorities on Sunday were testing the water quality along a stretch of the Yellowstone River where mangled cars carrying hazardous materials remained after crashing into the waterway following a bridge collapse.

Freight train carrying hot asphalt, molten sulfur plunges into Yellowstone River as bridge fails

A bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River in Montana collapsed early Saturday, plunging portions of a freight train carrying hazardous materials into the rushing water below.

Millions of Illinois residents get their drinking water from municipal and private wells contaminated with toxic forever chemicals

As far as the state is concerned, it is up to individual well owners to decide if it’s worth spending $500 or so to test their water for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.

‘These things are everywhere’: Experts and Lyme disease patients warn of tick season

The range of tick species known to transmit disease has increased, putting residents in Illinois at higher risk for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. In 2021, the state health department reported 540 cases of Lyme disease, almost triple the number reported in 2011.

3M reaches $10.3 billion settlement in ‘forever chemicals’ suits

Under the sweeping settlement, 3M said it would pay out the money over 13 years to any cities, counties and others across the country to test for and clean up perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, in public water supplies.

Residents and birders frustrated that developer proceeded with demolition that damaged gull colony on Goose Island

Despite some people seeing them as pests, they play an important role in an urban setting that many don’t understand, one expert said. "In some ways, they’re our streets and sanitation crew.”

EPA boosts use of biofuels but holds steady for corn-based ethanol production

Most gasoline sold in the U.S. contains 10% ethanol, and the fuel is a key part of the economy in the Midwest.

The Forest Preserve District of Will County recently began selling nature-themed products, such as T-shirts, hats as well as mugs, magnets and a dog bandanna.

Roger Payne, scientist who discovered whales can sing, dies at 88

Roger Payne, the scientist who spurred a worldwide environmental conservation movement with his discovery that whales could sing, has died. He was 88.

How Chicago White Sox starter Lucas Giolito is helping the environment, one pitch at a time

Chicago White Sox starter Lucas Giolito was recently recognized for his efforts in aiding the planting of trees: "If everybody does one little thing, it all adds up."

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