Smoky days, gloomy mood? How wildfire haze is affecting what Edmontonians do and feel

Alberta's capital city has been blanketed in smoke for more than 300 hours already this year – nearly three times the new normal – and with fires still burning, it's probably not over yet.

While the smoke eased Monday, reducing the Air Quality Health Index from "very high risk" to "low risk," frequent hazy skies and health warnings appear to be taking a toll on the physical and mental health of Albertans.

"We've got clients coming in and they just haven’t had the summer that they really wanted to, whether they have health conditions that don’t allow them to be outside when it’s really smoky or they have small kids and they’re worried about their health as well," explained Sabrina Roach.

She's a registered provisional psychologist based in St. Albert.

Roach believes the wildfires have led some to a state of heightened concern about the environment, a phenomenon called eco-anxiety.

"A lot of people do suffer from seasonal affective disorder in the winter, but now potentially, we’re seeing it in the summer," she said.

Edmonton has already shattered its old record of 229 smoke hours from 2018.

A "smoke hour" is when visibility is reduced to 9.7 kilometres or less due to smoke.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says their data is calculated for stations with human observations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“On average, we get about 110 hours of smoke a summer now, in the last five years," CTV News Edmonton meteorologist Josh Classen explained Monday.

"In the fifty years prior to that, it was like 17 hours of smoke per year on average. So yes, we are getting more smoke, more frequently every summer.”

The numbers are even more extreme in communities like Peace River, which recorded 644 smoke hours as of Sept. 6, smashing its old record of 238.

Grande Prairie, Cold Lake and Calgary have all topped 500 this year as well.

Some Edmonton residents, enjoying clearer skies at a dog park Monday, say they've cancelled plans and stayed home on really smoky days.

"I don't go outside as much when it's bad, but when I do have to go outside when it's bad, I start coughing," Devin Keizer said.

"You have to change your whole thing, how you plan your day. You have to do it, right? Because it’s going to be smoky for some time here,” Yair Tzur said.

The province’s minister of forests and parks allowed there's not much that can be done about the smoke once a wildfire has started.

"Obviously, we've had a really bad fire season this year, and it's been bad across all of North America, really," Todd Loewen told CTV News Edmonton.

“The best thing we can do is to prevent these forest fires to begin with, doing our part to make sure we’re all staying safe when we’re out in a forested area."

Loewen said the smoke Alberta faced over the weekend came from fires in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.

The minister said as those fires continue to burn, Albertans should expect more smoke, depending on the winds.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Marek Tkach