Millions in Two States Warned To Limit Outdoor Activity

Residents across eastern Nebraska are under an air quality alert from Tuesday evening through Wednesday morning due to increased concentrations of fine particulate pollution, as residents in neighboring Kansas also faced elevated levels of air pollution.

The alert, issued in coordination with the National Weather Service (NWS), the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and the Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE), warns of air quality levels ranging from “Moderate” to “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.”

Why It Matters

The advisory is in place due to elevated levels of PM 2.5 particulates—fine particles that are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter and can pose health risks when inhaled.

According to the advisory, “members of sensitive groups may experience health effects” and should avoid “prolonged or heavy exertion and avoid intense outdoor activities,” during unhealthy air conditions. This includes children, older adults, and people with lung or heart disease.

What To Know

The counties under alert span a wide swath of eastern Nebraska including Douglas, Lancaster, and Sarpy, which are among the state’s most populous counties.

The notice warned that smoke from prescribed burning in the Central Plains could impact air quality in the state.

“Those who are usually sensitive are advised to consider shortening outdoor activities,” the alert said.

“Symptoms such as coughing or shortness of breath are signs to take it easier,” residents in affected areas were advised.

The alert was issued using information from weather forecasts, smoke plume models, satellite imagery, and air quality monitors located in Omaha, Bellevue, Blair, Lincoln, Beatrice, Grand Island, and Scottsbluff.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Kansas, the cities of Topeka, Emporia, and Manhattan were also experiencing unhealthy air conditions due to elevated air pollution levels, an air quality map from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showed.

The Air Quality Index in the region had reached red-level status at the time of writing, indicating conditions that pose health risks to the general population and heightened concern for sensitive groups.

Per EPA air quality classifications, a red AQI warning means “some members of the general public may experience health effects,” and members of sensitive groups — including children, older adults, and people with lung disease — “may experience more serious health effects.”

What People Are Saying

Professor of pediatric respiratory and environmental medicine Jonathan Grigg, with Queen Mary, University of London told Newsweek: “To mitigate exposure… in the short term, anyone who’s got a respiratory disease should have a discussion with their physician, about what they should do [about] these alerts.

“In general, it is not exercising vigorously outside, staying indoors if that’s a safer place.”

Grigg added: “In terms of the general population… in days of extreme high pollution, it’s the same sort of advice.”

There are “very clear links” between inhaling particles and earlier death from both respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, Grigg said.

Conditions such as asthma are also exacerbated by exposure to air pollution, he said.