2025 second worst year for air quality behind 2023: UChicago report says

We’ve seen the impact this summer that wildfires can have on air quality.

Now a global report from the University of Chicago shows record-breaking fires from two years ago drove air pollution to levels not seen since the late 90’s.

This year is the second worst wildfire season on record, right behind 2023 which is what the report is based on.

The report says that some of the hard-hit wildfire regions from two years ago rivalled the most polluted places in the world and exposed half the country to pollution levels above the national standard.

WATCH MORE: Is this the new normal? Why Canada’s wildfires keep escalating

The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago says breathing in that smoke isn’t healthy and is a huge risk to human health.

Other parts of Canada are still battling 573 wildfires as the summer winds down, with 31 of them here in Ontario.

Data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre shows there have been just under 5,000 fires so far this year.

The winter weather will be starting before we know it.

The Farmers Almanac is predicting a cold and dry winter for the GTHA with snow likely to start in late November.

READ MORE: Provinces facing hundreds of wildfires in Canada’s 2nd-worst season on record