Features, Health and Wellness, News
What we know about the Smog from the Canada Wildfire
All throughout Canada, wildfires have spread rapidly over the past two months displacing over 30,000 people, according to Reuters. The smog of ash and smoke traveled down the east coast last week. This caused the air quality to become extremely hazardous for several days.
In major cities like New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., the smoke displayed an orange haze with what people described as “apocalyptic”.
Some schools even switched to online instruction and government leaders warned residents to stay inside and wear face masks outdoors. Fortunately, many had their N95 masks handy from the COVID-19 pandemic to help combat the suffocating air.
Still, this unfortunate reality may become more frequent due to climate change.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warns that these wildfires are a direct cause of climate change. She tweeted last week that “We are living in the era of extreme weather. Last summer, New York experienced extremely dry conditions and we had wildfires pop up across the state,” Hochul said. “While continuing our fight against climate change, we need to recognize that this is a new reality we have to be prepared for.”
Effects of the Wildfire:
Climate Change makes natural disasters more frequent and harder to combat, according to The World Health Organization. These fires are no exception and are not incidental or abnormal.
We have seen what bad air quality can do to living things. According to a study done by Stanford on wildfire smoke, “exposure to wildfire smoke over 5 to 7 days can cause damage to the lungs, blood, and heart and cause strokes. There is no safe distance from smoke.” This is especially alarming for the millions of people in the United States who are homeless and have no choice but to be outside.
Although there is progress in containing the fires in Quebec, the Canada Wildfire is not over yet and it is expected that the east coast will get another wave of orange smog sometime in the next coming weeks.
Check in with InClub Magazine to see as the story develops.
