Chicago’s air quality: ‘We’re in the crosshairs.’ Wildfires and wind push region’s air to worst in the world, global pollution index shows.

At  normally a spot for picnickers and parkgoers to admire an impressive view of the city, a group of four wore masks and looked across Lake Michigan at a whitish and gray skyline.

Miranda Mireles, 23, who grew up in Chicago and went to school in Washington state, said the scene felt “eerie.” She said the poor air quality had given her a headache.

”We’ve never had to deal with forest fire smoke,” Mireles said. “I was familiar with it (in Washington), but not here.”

[ Wednesday forecast update: More haze in Chicago and an air quality alert in effect until midnight ]

As thick smoke from Canadian wildfires coated Chicago and the surrounding areas Tuesday, weather officials warned more bad air is expected Wednesday.

According to the monitoring site IQAir, Chicago had the worst air quality out of 95 cities worldwide Tuesday.

Trent Ford, the Illinois state climatologist, said the worldwide index is essentially an average of the air quality monitors in a city. However, factors like time differences and the amount of monitors in a city make it difficult to use the index as a complete picture.

“But in general, to see cities like Chicago, which don’t, citywide, have this kind of perennial problem with air quality, at the top of that list, just gives you an idea of how unusual the conditions are right now,” Ford said.

As of 11 a.m., the air quality index had risen to a level considered “very unhealthy,” according to AirNow, a website that combines data from county, state and federal air quality agencies nationwide. This means everyone is at risk of experiencing health effects.

Weather officials also issued air quality alerts into Wednesday for the Great Lakes region and the Lower Mississippi and Ohio valleys…