As North America hosts some of the largest sporting events, concerts, festivals, races, and outdoor gatherings in its history, organizers are spending significant time planning for weather, security, transportation, and crowd safety. One critical factor often receives far less attention: air quality.
A recent study published in Science found that increasing wildfire emissions are reversing decades of progress in reducing ozone pollution across the United States. Researchers found that ozone concentrations declined between 2003 and 2015, but many of those gains were lost between 2015 and 2024 as wildfire activity increased.
The findings suggest that air quality conditions may become increasingly variable during the same seasons when many outdoor events take place.
The study adds to a growing body of evidence showing that air quality is becoming more difficult to predict and more important to monitor.
For organizations responsible for outdoor events, that trend carries practical implications.
Millions of people spend time outdoors participating in events every year. At the same time, wildfire smoke has become a recurring challenge across large parts of North America. Communities located far from active fires are increasingly experiencing elevated levels of particulate pollution and ozone.
Air quality is becoming another operational variable that event organizers need to manage.
The Air Quality Blind Spot
Most organizations already have established protocols for weather. Lightning can delay a game. Extreme heat can trigger cooling measures. Severe storms can postpone or cancel an event altogether. These systems exist because organizers understand that environmental conditions directly impact safety.
Air quality often remains the exception.
Many organizations still lack clear thresholds for action, communication protocols, or contingency plans when pollution levels become unhealthy. Yet air pollution can affect respiratory function, cardiovascular health, athletic performance, and overall well-being. Sensitive populations, including children, older adults, and people with asthma or other respiratory conditions, may face elevated risks during pollution events.
Unlike severe weather, poor air quality is not always obvious. Ozone is invisible, and high PM2.5 levels may not be immediately apparent. Without monitoring, organizers may not know conditions have changed until participants begin reporting symptoms.
From an Environmental Issue to an Operational Issue
For years, air quality was viewed primarily as an environmental concern. Increasingly, it is becoming an operational concern, as well.
Organizations cannot effectively manage risks they cannot see. As environmental conditions become less predictable, access to reliable air quality information becomes an important part of planning, communication, and public safety decision-making.
Just as organizations have learned to adapt to extreme heat and severe weather, they can incorporate air quality into broader risk management strategies. That starts with access to reliable, real-time information.
Event organizers should understand local air quality conditions before an event begins and have systems in place to monitor changing conditions throughout the day. It also requires clear decision-making frameworks. What air quality thresholds trigger public health advisories? How will participants and spectators be notified? What accommodations are available for sensitive individuals? How will organizers respond if conditions deteriorate unexpectedly?
These are questions that can be addressed before an event begins rather than during a crisis.
A New Era of Event Planning
The Science study reflects a broader shift in the way event organizers need to think about air quality. Wildfires and extreme heat are affecting more communities, while many major metropolitan areas already contend with pollution from traffic, energy production, and other urban sources. Together, these factors can create unhealthy air quality with little warning
The 2023 Canadian wildfires illustrated just how far those impacts can reach. Smoke drifted into the northeastern United States, creating hazardous conditions hundreds of miles from the fires. Major League Baseball postponed games, outdoor practices were canceled, and organizers across the region were forced to adjust plans as conditions changed.
Air quality planning shouldn't start when smoke is already in the forecast. It should be built into event planning from the beginning, with clear procedures for monitoring conditions, communicating with participants, and determining when activities should be modified, postponed or canceled.
Most organizations already have established plans for severe weather and other emergencies. Air quality deserves the same level of preparation.
Real-time air quality data gives organizers the ability to monitor changing conditions and base decisions on current information rather than assumptions. That helps event staff communicate more clearly with athletes, performers, workers, volunteers, and attendees when conditions change.
As cities continue to host major sporting events, concerts, festivals, and community gatherings, air quality should be considered alongside weather, security, transportation, and other public safety planning. Organizations that prepare before air quality becomes a problem will be better equipped to protect public health and keep events running as safely as possible.
