An air quality alert covering the entire state of Minnesota continues on Thursday, marring otherwise fairly ideal weather conditions.

Data suggests that air quality in Minneapolis ranked worse than the air in Egypt, South Korea and China. Minneapolis has the fifth worst air quality in the world, according to an air quality monitoring platform that reported its latest findings Saturday.

For residents across Minnesota, the past week has been marked by a new, unwelcome normal: a thick, smoky haze hanging over cities and landscapes. This persistent blanket of pollution isn't just an inconvenience;