The Impact of Wildfires from Canada on Air Quality in the US
Smoke from the wildfires that are currently raging in Canada has engulfed the east coast of the US, causing hazy smog and triggering air quality alerts for an estimated 100 million people. Over 400 fires are burning in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario, with half remaining uncontrolled. New York City currently has the worst air quality in the world, while Philadelphia has issued a red alert code, advising people to stay inside. Smoke is spreading through Washington, DC, and as far as Atlanta, Georgia.
Factors Contributing to Supercharged Wildfires
Wildfires in the US’s West Coast, which were once thought to be confined to that region, have now become a national and even global problem. Climate change, combined with human intervention in the landscape, has created bigger and more intense wildfires. These wildfires are big enough to send clouds of toxic smoke across continents, making them a global problem. Higher temperatures dry and make brush flammable, leading to catastrophic burns in some cases.
Health Hazards of Wildfire Smoke
Wildfire smoke is hazardous to human health, containing several materials, including PM 2.5 and 10, which are particles smaller than 2.5 and 10 microns, respectively. The smoke also contains toxic particles like benzene, formaldehyde, carbon gases, and fungal pathogens. As smoke travels through the atmosphere, it can form new chemical hazards, such as ozone, which worsens asthma. Wildfire smoke can cause immediate health hazards such as heart attacks, strokes, and bronchitis, particularly among vulnerable people with respiratory problems. The smoke may weaken the immune system. A 2021 study found that Covid-19 cases and deaths in California, Oregon, and Washington in the previous year were exacerbated by increases in fine-particle air pollution from wildfire smoke.
The Pyrocene: Welcome to the Flame Age
The East Coast of the US is experiencing the Pyrocene, or the flame age, where climate change and human intrusion into the landscape have led to larger and more intense wildfires, big enough to send clouds of toxic smoke across entire continents. The Pyrocene is similar to the Anthropocene, the human-dominated age we currently find ourselves in.
Expanding on the Impact of Wildfires on Air Quality
Wildfires have a significant impact on air quality and human health, particularly in vulnerable populations. Here are some additional insights on the topic:
1. Some regions are more vulnerable to wildfire smoke than others. Certain areas with high pollution levels, such as California’s Central Valley, are more vulnerable to wildfire smoke since it exacerbates existing air pollution problems. Similarly, people with respiratory problems, pregnant women, children, and the elderly are more susceptible to wildfire smoke’s health effects.
2. Climate change has led to more significant and more catastrophic wildfires. Warmer temperatures dry and make brush flammable, leading to bigger and more intense fires. Strong winds, exacerbated by climate change, have also made fires worse.
3. Wildfires could cause long-term health effects. While the immediate health effects of wildfire smoke are well-known, less is known about the long-term effects of brief exposure. Massive exposure to groups that have never been exposed before, such as those on the East Coast of the US, might lead to long-term health effects that research hasn’t accounted for.
4. Structural inequalities make wildfires a more significant threat to vulnerable populations. Low-income individuals are more likely to live in areas exposed to wildfire smoke and have less access to healthcare. Similarly, racial and ethnic minorities might be more exposed to wildfire smoke due to structural inequalities.
Conclusion (Summary)
Smoke from the wildfires burning across Canada has engulfed the US East Coast, triggering air quality alerts for an estimated 100 million people. Wildfires, which were once confined to the West Coast, have become a national and even global problem due to climate change and human intrusion into the landscape. Wildfire smoke is hazardous to human health, containing several toxic materials, including PM 2.5 and 10, which are particles smaller than 2.5 and 10 microns, respectively. Smoke from the wildfires could lead to immediate health hazards such as heart attacks and bronchitis, and weaken the immune system. Vulnerable populations, such as low-income individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, pregnant women, children, and the elderly, are more susceptible to wildfire smoke’s health effects.
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smoke from forest fires in Canada it has engulfed the east coast, blanketing cities in hazy smog and putting an estimated 100 million people under air quality alerts. More than 400 fires they are burning in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario, and half are not controlled. New York City became the home of the the worst air quality in the world. Philadelphia has also issued a red alert codeadvising people to stay inside, and the columns may continue to flood the region by several more days to come, with smoke spreading through Washington, DC and as far as Atlanta, Georgia.
In the United States, supercharged wildfires once seemed like a only West Coast problemlike the 2018 Camp Fire that erased the Californian town of Paradise. A variety of factors contributed to that massive fire, including the region’s firefighting legacy, which allowed dead brush to accumulate. Climate change means higher temperatures dry and brush, so it burns catastrophically. That is also the problem in Canada at the moment. The number of fires for this time of year has only increased slightly above average, but “the size and intensity of fires have increased significantly,” says Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildfire at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia. .
In other words: East Coast, welcome to the Pyrocene, or the flame age, as fire historian Stephen Pyne calls it. Climate change and human intrusion into the landscape have combined to make wildfires bigger and more intense, big enough to send clouds of toxic smoke not just from Canada to the East Coast, but across entire continents. “Climate change is acting as a performance enhancer: it’s exacerbating what is a natural rhythm,” says Pyne. “There is no reason to think that these trends will suddenly stop.”
“Now it’s a global problem,” says Mary Prunicki, director of air pollution and health research at Stanford University’s Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research. The immediate health effects of wildfire smoke exposure can be devastating for vulnerable people, but less is known about the long-term effects of brief exposure. “This is relatively new, to have this kind of massive exposure to a group that has never been exposed before,” she says. \
Wildfire smoke is a complex amalgamation of materials, including burned plant material and, if buildings catch fire, human-made things like plastic. What makes smoke visible are its toxic particles, called PM 2.5 and 10, that is, particles smaller than 2.5 and 10 microns. But there’s a lot of invisible nasties there too, such as benzene, formaldehyde, carbon gases and even fungal pathogens. As the smoke travels through the atmosphere, it can actually form new chemical hazards over time, such as ozone, which exacerbates asthma. “The biggest health impacts definitely come from particulate matter,” says Rebecca Hornbrook, an atmospheric chemist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, who has planes flown through smoke from forest fires to study its components. “But there are a lot of things that are missing that are on the EPA’s list of hazardous chemicals.”
Wildfire smoke can cause immediate health effects such as heart attacks, strokes and bronchitis, particularly in the most vulnerable people with respiratory problems, and can be a threat to pregnant women. “These single exposure events can be really devastating for people with pre-existing conditions,” says Shahir Masri, an air pollution scientist at the University of California, Irvine.
Exposure to this type of pollution can also weaken the immune system. a 2021 study It found that Covid-19 cases and deaths in California, Oregon and Washington in the previous year were exacerbated by increases in fine-particle air pollution from wildfire smoke. “Whether it’s Covid or any other virus, this is a time to avoid not only exposure to fine matter outdoors, but also to try not to get sick,” says Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics, population, and data science at Harvard. . TH Chan School of Public Health who worked on the study. “Their ability to fight the virus is less effective.”
This year’s fire season in Canada is “unprecedented” and may become a record, Flannigan says. Hundreds of fires have been burning in Canada, some for days or weeks, usually started by human activity or lightning, then fueled by dry vegetation and made worse by hot, dry and windy weather. Warm rising air on land has lifted that smoke to 5,000 to 20,000 feet, where haze is blown rapidly south and east by strong winds.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-age-of-flames-reaches-the-us-east-coast/
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