The Age of Flames: Warming Up the East Coast with Extreme Weather Events and the Kicking-Up of the Wildland Fires

“This is something that I think even for folks who are not involved to kind of pay attention to,” Jeff Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, told NPR this week, “because this is the type of situation that we’re expecting that we’re going to see more of — not less of — into the future.”

“Make no mistake, the extreme weather events occurring in Canada and our own backyard are proof that the climate crisis is getting worse,” Murphy said.

Stephen Pyne calls it the Age of Flames, and it’s welcome to the East Coast. Climate change and human interference has made wildfires bigger and more intense in order to send toxic smoke from Canada to the East Coast. Climate change is acting as a performance enhancer and is slating what is a natural rhythm. “There’s no reason to think that those trends will suddenly stop.”

The air quality in the U.S. had deteriorated so much that by Wednesday morning there were grayish smoky air images in the news and on social media.

The start of theCanada wildfire season is already underway, where there have been 2,289 wildfires that have scorched over 8 million acres and forced the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.

The U.S. Air Quality was Scenario for Wildfire Smoke from the Second Wildfires in the Convergence of the Great Wall on Wednesday

The public school system in New York City canceled all outdoor activities on Wednesday. Washington, D.C., public schools did the same, scrapping recess, outdoor physical education classes and other events outside.

The smoke from the fires may be directed towards other areas of the US even if the low pressure system does not shift from the Northeast this weekend.

According to Peter DeCarlo, an associate professor of Environmental Health and Engineering at the JohnsHopkins University, the weather conditions in the U.S. made it possible for wildfire smoke to spread.

Officials in some areas were urging people to stay inside as much as they can, avoid travel if possible and refrain from any exercise or strenuous activity.

But authorities from New England to as far south as Georgia were warning people to beware of poor air quality and the health problems that can result from breathing in too much smoke.

Millions of people along the East Coast and further inland woke to a cloud of hazy air on Wednesday morning, after smoke from rampant wildfires in Canada floated south across the border.

Exposure to this kind of pollution can also weaken the immune system. A 2021 study found that Covid-19 cases and deaths in California, Oregon, and Washington the previous year were exacerbated by increases in fine particulate air pollution from wildfire smoke. Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics, population, and data science at Harvard T.H. Chan suggests avoiding fine outdoor matter and trying not to get sick, regardless of whether Covid or any other virus is present. You’re less effective in fighting the virus.

Reduce your exposure to the particulate matter in wildfire smoke by staying indoors as much as possible, wearing an N95 or a similar respirator outside and limiting strenuous activity.

Millions of Americans from the Northeast to the Midwest were under air quality alerts on Thursday, as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to fill the skies.

What can the atmosphere tell us about climate change? Vizuete, a professor, and the minister of public safety in Canada and the Mid-Atlantic

“There’s nothing you can do about the processes of the atmosphere,” says William Vizuete, a professor in the department of of environmental sciences and engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We need to understand the processes, so we can understand when we’re exposed to particles.

Forecasters expect hard-hit areas in New England and the Mid-Atlantic to see some relief on Friday, but shifting wind patterns could mean worsening air quality for people across vast stretches of the Midwest and South.

In the last few weeks, fires have popped up in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, all of which began in late April.

Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of public safety said at a Wednesday briefing that there are 414 wildfires and 169 of them are out of control.

He says firefighters from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States are also helping out. The U.S. has so far deployed more than 600 firefighters and support personnel to Canada.

The situation allows us to see how climate change will affect weather in different parts of the world.

A change in weather could improve air quality in one of two ways, West explains: Rainfall could remove the harmful particles from the air, while wind could change the direction of the smoke altogether.

University of Denver professor Alex Huffman told Colorado Public Radio that people can also monitor the air quality around them, use a high-quality air filter in their homes and seal up openings in their doors and windows.

He says they have spent lots of time trying to develop ways to measure air quality and create an air quality index that can easily communicate what that means to the public.

The smoke-worst day in history of the United States is still there: Marshall Burke’s reaction to the verge’s analysis

The data from satellite shows where the smoke has spread more than a year ago. It is unlikely that any event before then was worse since this analysis is based on the population and severity of the smoke. The population has grown, and wildfires have become more uncontrollable since then.

Marshall Burke had a call from The Verge and got the results of his team’s analysis via Slack. “Jesus,” he says — audibly surprised, even though he expected the numbers to be bad. “It’s really remarkable. The number is pretty shocking.

Those figures represent an average for Americans. Some people in the worst-hit areas were exposed to as much as 500 micrograms of mercury, according to Burke. The hardest hit areas yesterday were New York City and parts of upstate New York.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23753956/wildfire-smoke-worst-day-us-history-stanford-analysis-air-quality

What to do if you need to evacuate during the next big wildfire? Experts explain the terminology and ways to protect yourself and your loved ones

“This is a completely historic event,” Burke says. But with climate change setting the stage for more intense wildfires, historic events are becoming the norm. “In some sense it feels like a wake up call … It feels like maybe a taste of things to come,” he says.

Experts also encourage owners to keep a go bag for their pet — including food, water, medicine, first aid supplies, a leash or harness and toys — in case your family needs to evacuate.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, pets should stay indoors as much as possible when the air quality is low and take only brief bathroom breaks outside. Birds shouldn’t go outside in smoky weather.

Air quality is quantified using a scale that ranges from zero to 500, with a lower number indicating better air quality and anything over 300 being hazardous.

But smaller particulate matter (called PM2.5) is apparently even worse, since the fine particles can get into the deeper parts of your lungs and your blood.

These are tiny solid and liquid droplets that hang in the air and can be harmful to human health. Fires can be a major source of particulate matter.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the more technical wildfire-related terms you might hear and what experts say are some of the best ways to protect yourself and your loved ones.