On the wildfire causes, it's not just low humidity, high winds, and an ignition source, it's also a fuel source! I think invasive grasses were a huge source of dry fuel for the Lahaina fire
Exactly. Just think, if native grasses have acclimated to the heat, it's less likely to better tinder. With non-native, especially lush grasses that require cooler environments, wildfires will crop up sooner. It's why Australia also has become increasingly more at risk of bushfires. We're about to go into a drought, I can feel it, and next summer, will be Black.
Lahaina was lush with wetland agriculture for taro and breadfruit, which if allowed to exist after Hawaii was annexed by the US, would have been a buffer, preventing the fire from reaching the ocean. All that water was taken first for pineapple and sugarcane plantations, and now for tourist resorts.
It is much easier to see the immediate short-term health problems associated with Wildfire smoke but there are many long-term hazards associated with the smallest particles that we are just starting to learn about. PM2.5 and larger particles only account for 10% of all the particles in the air we breathe. The particles smaller than 2.5 microns make up 90% of the particles in the air we breathe and they are the most hazardous to humans. The outside smoke will most definitely get into your home so you are affected by it even if you don't go outside. Be Careful!😃
The deaths related to the wildfires in Canada are likely to have caused a thousand premature deaths when all factors are considered. However, this won't be obvious for a few years...
Agreed, and the wildfire smoke will also be responsible for many other negative health issues that tens of thousands of people will suffer from over the coming years that will probably NEVER be traced back the to original source/wildfire smoke.☹ @@davidhollenshead4892
I live in southern RI, tend to rise early in the morning and go outside to run, and have noticed that the air smells like wood smoke when there is not much wind. At first I was like, "Who is using their wood stove in July?" And then I thought, "Oh, it's coming down here from Canada". I also happen to be one of those in the sensitive category - one of the main reasons I exercise is that it strengthens my lungs, but I don't get very far at all unless I use my asthma inhaler first since my problems are exercise induced. I tend to use it more during the high pollen season; this year there was also insult added to injury to make it worse. I have gotten into the habit of checking the weather before I go out to avoid getting stuck in a thunderstorm, and other not-so-fun weather events. I do see an overall slowness and a greater likelihood of fatigue on bad days and I have decided to forgive myself when I need to stop and rest a bit. My father was also a fireman - he did triathlons and was in amazing shape, but he did struggle with anxiety and depression. I remember the summers being notorious for brush fires and they kept the fire dept. busy, and they also required homeowners to obtain a burning permit before they burned trash in a barrel in their yards and had a sign outside the station with the daily fire index on it.
Maiya summed up the Lahaina fires perfectly. So many conspiracy theorists, and even many locals are saying “they blame it on climate change 😂😂”. No one is blaming this fire on that alone, but it’s the abnormally dry conditions that made the spread and continuation of the fire. I honestly wonder how many extreme weather events it will take for people to believe. Hawaii is the only state to have declared a climate emergency.
Australia is about to go into a drought season, and next summer will be as bad, if not worse, than the Black Summer of 2019-20. And most people are planning on voting no against an Indigenous Voice To Parliament. This will mean the First Nations Elder's wisdom will be disregarded in terms of when to backburn and when to dredge the rivers (which hasn't been done at all as far as memory serves). Droughts, bushfires and floods are about to get way worse, which means less funding to education and healthcare, therefore more people will disbelieve climate change. It's a vicious cycle only the prepared will survive.
@@audreydoyle5268 Wow thank you for sharing. Even here in Hawaii our native population is extremely vulnerable to effects like sea level rise and flooding, they rely on aquaculture and fishing activities heavily.
As an asthmatic living in Kenosha WI (located between Milwaukee and Chicago) I can say this has been the worst summer for air quality in my 57 years. Most summers we have a few days with smoke from wildfires in other areas, but I have used my recue medications and relied on air conditioning much more than previously. I track the air quality index regularly, and wear an N95 mask to walk my dog on bad days. Combined with longer summers and increased pollen due to climate change, breathing has become more challenging. I can't wait for winter.
As a Canadian, living in western Canada, we are very sorry that our fire seasons are getting worse and worse. We would like to stop them, if we could. I wish I could say we're close to having it all burned to the ground, but the truth is, the area is so vast that we can do this every year forever. That won't happen though, because they ARE getting worse and worse, so at some point there won't be anything left but charcoal to burn...
Since you’ve mentioned clean air, I’d like to add that people from areas with high air pollution tend to have a higher risk for a severe case of COVID. Theory is that the particles cause like a constant level of inflammation throughout the body. With the pandemic not going anywhere anytime soon, we should ask why schools don’t have clean air standards and why masking is such an underused tool. According to studies, around 70% of cases come from schools, but clean air and masks could vastly reduce these numbers. It’s SARS, folks. It’s not sustainable the way we currently try to ignore it. It’s a vascular disease and there’s no cure for LongCOVID and ME/CFS. Yet.
I would like to state that CO poisoning is very dangerous. As unlike most other forms of poison there is no way to remediate it's affects. The CO binds to the red blood cell permanently, so you have to wait for that red blood cell to die and be replaced.
It is indeeed very dangerous (why no one should EVER burn in an enclosed space - run generators outside!)... but carbon monoxide poisoning is treatable; for mild to moderate cases just getting in fresh air will do it, to let the cells take up oxygen. In more serious cases the treatment is intensive oxygen therapy. Either way, you can flush it from the body in about 24 hours. my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15663-carbon-monoxide-poisoning#:~:text=For%20mild%20carbon%20monoxide%20poisoning,may%20persist%20during%20this%20time.
My husband is asthmatic so I'm always watching for air quality. Wunderground includes AQI reports as part of the daily weather, although I think even when it's in that yellow range (50-100) sensitive people still have increased symptoms. Another thing that really helps indoor air quality is good old-fashioned cleaning: vacuum the floors, dust with a damp rag so it doesn't spread, and change HVAC filters once a month (instead of three like the package suggests), especially if your AC is running constantly because it's a million degrees outside. Hubby can tell an immediate difference when the master bedroom is clean.
A doctor told me smoke of any kind can't make you sick. Doesn't believe carcinogens can be transported through smoke either. Doesn't think smoke affects asthma or people's respiratory systems. I wanted to report the dude. He doesn't think cigarettes are bad either, he said the issue with cigarettes is that people smoke multiple packs a day for their whole life, not what's in the tobacco.
Some info about firefighters: a) Wildfire Firefighters & Urban Firefighters are exposed the similar pollutants as man made products such as plastics burn when a town or house burns,even when they wear oxygen tanks due to toxins being absorbed thru the skin. b) Firefighters tend to smoke as it just won't make any difference. As they know they are trading a decade to three of their life for your safety. c) They need us to do our part in reducing the risks of fires and getting out when we are told to as they don't need the additional these risks in a situation that will get worse before it gets better. d) Wildfire Firefighters need an increase of budget, staff and equipment of an order of magnitude in order to deal with the increased risks due to climate change.
I'm in Springfield, IL, the state capital. We don't have much industry and we're surrounded by farmland so air quality is usually pretty good. When the smoke came through it was bad. Visibility went from miles (flat plains in our area) to barely half a mile or less. Cities in every part of the state were choking on the smoke, even Carbondale, which is 300 miles south of Chicago
Can you do a show on how many people have died per year due to natural disasters? Also how many have lost their homes? Also I have notice that the 30° latitudes have been hit hardest with disasters for wet weather. Damns and flooding around the world with New Zealand included in the south latitude.
I live in Scotland and for the first time ever (i am over 60) the woods i live in get dry enough to be an actual fire hazard . Last few nights in September have been over 20 deg C , that`s warmer than some summers ever get . My air is often red from ammonia from farming practices .
May the Anthropocene (Pyrocene (?)) epoch make the Permian-Triassic extinction event seem like a minor footnote in the pages of Earths history. Hopefully, scenario SSP5-8.5 of the IPCC assessment comes to fruition and ends the Anthropcene. Enjoy what you can, while you can and pity the next 3 to 5 generations to come.
@@renbakes5083 You mean the NEVER isolated in a purified form invisible 'boogie bug"? The same bullshit...I mean deadly plague that caused, statistically, the same amount of deaths that would have happened anyways, whilst the population grew at a statistically average rate...globally??? PLEASE wake up friend, YOU'VE BEEN DUPED!!!
@@renbakes5083 Heart attacks increased in youth AFTER they were approved to get the mRNA heart attacks also aren’t increasing in low vaccinated countries only highly vaccinated. Ou can look into it yourself and see.
