Live news: Air quality in US Midwest declines as Canadian wildfire haze lingers

Haze from Canadian wildfires enveloped the US Midwest on Wednesday, placing three major metropolitan areas among those with the worst air quality globally.

Detroit, Chicago, and Minneapolis had the second-, third-, and fourth-worst air quality worldwide, respectively, on Wednesday, topped only by Dubai, according to IQAir.

Chicago has had “unhealthy” air, as measured by the air quality index, since Monday, and the city had the worst air quality in the world on Tuesday. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued an air quality alert through midnight on Thursday.

The smoke was also affecting the US east coast, with Washington having the eighth-worst air quality in the world. The New York Department of State issued an air quality advisory for multiple counties, including all of New York City, for Wednesday.