The air over Seattle (and the rest of the Pacific Northwest) has been very poor lately. The concentration of PM2.5 (very small bits of particulate matter in the air) has been well above what health officials consider acceptable for human health. The situation is even worse up north in Alberta when the sky seems to be permanently yellow like a scene from some kind of post-apocalyptic dystopia video game my partner would play.

There's been a lot of worry for what the air quality means for our health and why it's happening, as well as the completely understandable fear that this is our new normal. I'm going to talk a bit about what's in the air, who is at risk of poor health from it (spoiler: everyone), and some ways that you can try to keep yourself and your family healthy when these events happen.