Pennsylvania under another air quality warning, again thanks to wildfire smoke

Pennsylvania is under another code orange air quality alert through at least Tuesday night, as smoke from more Canadian wildfires wafts across the East Coast.

The air quality warning concerns particulate matter from the smoke, which can enter your bloodstream to cause short-term respiratory problems and exacerbate other health conditions like asthma.

Under a code orange, sensitive groups of people — such as “young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems,” according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection — should limit their time outside. The DEP also encouraged Pennsylvania residents to avoid using gas-powered lawn care tools and burning materials outside during this time.

AirNow — the air quality tracker maintained by the U.S government — has issued code orange advisories in 22 other states, including Delaware and New Jersey, as well as New Hampshire, New York, and as far south as Georgia.

This is not the first time this summer smoke from Canadian wildfires has caused air quality warnings as it blew across the United States. In June, smoke caused air quality alerts for more than a third of the U.S population, including Philadelphia, where the air quality reached ”unhealthy” levels for several days in a row and sky had a hazy orange hue.

Canada is having an extreme wildfire season this year, which have burned nearly 5000% more land than normal in provinces such as British Columbia and Nova Scotia as blazes spread farther and faster due to high temperatures.

There were 883 active fires across Canada as of Sunday night, per the country’s forest fire center. To date, this season’s wildfires have consumed upwards of 25 million acres — a tract of land about the size of Ohio.

To keep up with current air quality conditions in their area, the Pennsylvania DEP recommends residents use AirNow’s website and enter their zip code.