Trouble Breathing? It's the soot!

The air we're breathing around here, it's the worst. For the first time ever in the winter, an air quality alert has been issued in Illinois. The alert will last through the weekend and environmentalists are telling old people and those with respiratory problems to limit their time outside because of a soot alert.

Though smog warnings have become routine in the summer, soot alerts are a recent addition to the warning system for dirty air. Which is cool because it means that people are finally recognizing that tiny particles in the air pose a health risk. But.. uh.. not so cool that soot is always in the air around here. Chicago is one of the durstiest regions in the US for harmful soot.