We all know how bad the wildfire season was in 2018 for the BC Interior and northern BC but a new report shows how bad it truly was.
Greenpeace Canada released a study today (March 5) that shows three cities in northern B.C., and its surrounding areas, had some of the worst air pollution levels in the world in August.
In Canada specifically during August, these northern B.C. cities were in the top three for worst air pollution levels:
- Quesnel
- Prince George
- Williams Lake
Quesnel's air pollution sat at just 10.4 in July before skyrocketing to 74.2 in August.
Prince George was at 11.9 in July before shooting to 72.2 in August, while Williams Lake was only 8.2 in July before going to 67 in August.
The air pollution levels were deemed unhealthy, which cause Environment Canada to tell residents to stay inside.
In Prince George specifically, breathing in the air caused by wildfires was the same as smoking eight cigarettes.
The top 10 cities were as follows for Aug. of 2018:
- Padre las Casas, Chile - 93.0
- Hotan, China - 91.9
- Bhiwadi, India - 83.6
- Anderson, California, USA - 78.0
- Chelan, Washington, USA - 76.2
- Fairdabad, India - 74.5
- Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada - 74.2
- Coyhaique, Chile - 73.2
- Prince George, British Columbia, Canada - 72.2
- Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA - 70.1
