An Air Quality Action Day has been declared for New Jersey Thursday by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection due to the state seeing elevated pollution levels from smoke due to the Canadian wildfires.
Thursday's air quality warning was upgraded to the unhealthy category for western counties in New Jersey. Levels of fine particulates have gradually increased from west to east across the Garden State beginning in the overnight hours, according to NJDEP.
NJDEP says concentrations upwind continue to increase and for this reason, it is expected that western New Jersey counties will experience PM2.5 levels in the unhealthy range.
How New Jersey residents feel about the air quality
The summer of haze is affecting people in a variety of ways. Some Middlesex County residents spent time outside Thursday to enjoy summer while others are not only watching the haze roll in but are also watching their health.