The Bay Area will once again be under an air quality advisory on Thursday.
Officials extended Wednesday's advisory, which projected particularly hazy conditions in the North Bay, into Thursday due to ongoing wildfires in Northern California. Air quality was expected to be moderate with smoke forecast to stay aloft, but the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said "hazy, smoky conditions are predicted through Thursday."
Three active wildfires in Northern California have burned over 200,000 acres. The Dixie Fire (960,470 acres) remains the second-largest in state history, while the Caldor Fire is 15th (219,267 acres) and the Monument Fire (214,576 acres) is 16th.
If and when the Caldor and Monument fires surpass 220,000 acres, the 15 largest wildfires in state history will all have burned this century, as global average temperatures have risen to unprecedented levels. Experts say climate change has made California's wildfire season longer and more intense.
The Bay Area has had to contend with worse air quality as a result, but the region has issued far fewer Spare the Air Alerts this year than in 2020. Officials have issued five Spare the Air Alerts in 2021 due to particulate matter, the primary pollutant in wildfire smoke, compared to 52 in 2020.
However, the Bay Area has already exceeded the federal health standard for ozone pollution seven times this year after doing so nine times in each of the last two years. The Bay Area Air Quality Management has said some excess days since 2017 could've been exacerbated by wildfire smoke, though that doesn't necessarily mean wildfire smoke is the sole cause.
Bay Area residents who smell smoke should avoid exposure by staying inside with windows and doors closed, according to officials. Setting air conditioning and car ventilation systems is recommended in order to stop outside air from moving inside.
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