The Vancouver area is choking on smog mixed with smoke from wildfires burning both in the local area and as far away as Eurasia.

Metro Vancouver is warning in an air quality advisory that the smoke is mixing with smog, known as ground-level ozone.

B.C. government air quality meteorologist Tarek Ayache told CTV News Channel that winds are pushing smoke “all the way from wildfires in Siberia” into much of B.C. He urged people to limit their physical activity while outside.

Trevor Smith, a meteorologist with Enviornment Canada, said that ground-level ozone has been a problem for decades and is currently high, making the air quality even worse.

“(Ozone) is a lung irritant so anyone with asthma or lung conditions, even heart conditions, is going to feel the effects of it more than other people,” he said.

Metro Vancouver’s advisory explains that ground-level ozone is created when nitrogen oxides from pollutants mix with volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight. The highest risk is between mid-afternoon and early evening on summer days.

With a report from CTV Vancouver