Blue skies? Not so much

Awakening to another smoky sky is horrifying. We in Connecticut need to do more than pray for our Canadian neighbors or Google "when will smoke clear?" We must recycle, reuse and be conservative with energy, water and all precious resources. I can't tell you how many SUV-driving climate destroyers look down on ME for walking or riding the bus. (Shout out to that guy packing his bicycle basket at Big Y in Branford the other day.) We remain under an Air Quality Alert issued Monday by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental protection until midnight.

Climate change has already decimated or impaired many regions of the world, from Australia to California, depending on the season. Last time I checked, Canada was in the northernmost part of the continent, where warm weather has been a punchline. The New York Times has published an interactive map that shows frightening dark clouds intermittently shrouding the Tri State. They report data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre which, as of 8:50 a.m. ET June 7, shows a staggering 243 out-of-control fires and a total 422 active fires. The fires extend across Canada, so U.S. citizens have been wholly at risk.

Wearing that N95 you'd thrown in storage (in my opinion not a good choice) should be dusted off and worn today. The National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory published "Respiratory Fact Sheet", where N95s are listed as useful for filtering out particulates in a moderately risky situation. They clean air as one breathes. However, if you are able to stay home, do it. If you have a home air purifier use it. One can check their air quality by zip code here.

The skies here are forecast to clear tomorrow, but that doesn't mean risk has gone. Next time, the fires may well be closer and we aren't even in summer.

Photos: Fox Weather Live(top); middle, home, New Haven 6/7; bottom two at home 6-7.

2:45 p.m. Jun 7 update - the skies will remain hazy through at least tomorrow morning.