June 29, 2023
Media advisory: SIU prof can discuss air quality and climate change
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois and the Metro East began seeing hazy skies and air quality alerts on Wednesday as smoke from wildfires in Canada began descending deeper into the continental United States. As of this morning (June 29), the National Weather Service said the smoke would reduce air quality in a widespread area, reaching from parts of the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley to the Great Lakes, Western Ohio Valley and Central Appalachians, as well as the northeast, and mid-Atlantic states, prompting breathing hazards throughout the area.
With that in mind, Justin Schoof, director of the School of Earth Systems and Sustainability at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is available as a resource for news organizations.
“The atmospheric circulation is mixing the smoke down to the surface in some regions causing substantial reductions in air quality,” Schoof said.
Schoof’s research interests include climate variability and change, synoptic climatology and statistical climatology.