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Forest Fires, Air Quality, Weather Patterns, ...The World ...

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North_Sky

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200912143931-01-portland-smoke-0912-exlarge-169.jpg

200912111803-02-cali-fire-0911-exlarge-169.jpg
 
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Here's why wildfire smoke can make you sick: Wildfire smoke includes particles from burning vegetation and building materials mixed with gases. If your eyes feel like they're stinging, smoke exposure could also be inflicting other damage. Particles could be getting into your respiratory system.

Exposure can cause chest pain, a fast heartbeat or wheezing or bring on an asthma attack. Besides coughing and trouble breathing, many people experience symptoms similar to a sinus infection, such as headaches, sore throat, a runny nose and even tiredness, according to the CDC.

Wildfire smoke can be especially harmful to the elderly, pregnant women, children and those with chronic heart and lung diseases. Because children breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults and their airways are still developing, they may experience more severe symptoms.

Those with asthma or lung disease should consult their doctors about navigating situations like this. Some people may even experience illnesses like bronchitis due to the fine particles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
 
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"Chris Tofte's search for his wife, son and mother-in-law as the fire raged around him. On Tuesday, he found his wife badly burned, walking along the road to their home when he returned with a borrowed trailer to retrieve their belongings.
He didn't recognize her at first, he told the newspaper, and he told her he was searching for his wife and son.
"I am your wife," Angela replied."

_____

When we live some distance away from fires and that only our air quality is extremely hazardous and that a pandemic is running wild around, we cannot feel the full impact of some of the pictures and the people living right in the middle of it.

I'm sure we all have read some heartwrenching accounts and seen tons of pictures and videos. It's only when lightening strikes right above our head that we start realizing that we're all vulnerable and together.

Some of us here know how it's like to lose everything...they are only here in spirit ...
 
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The last few years hurricanes are getting more vicious from the Atlantic.
The forests fires more intense from the Pacific West coast.

This year, with COVID-19, the world is on alert.
 

Astrozombie

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These last few days have been like the Twilight Zone, overcast after a heatwave and now the smell of ash in the air, couldn't leave the house because of surgery. I bought a swamp cooler but now it's not so hot, should have bought n95 masks i guess. :eek:
 
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Today, West coast ...


Today, East coast ...


Four days ago, Golden, Colorado ...

 

sweetchaos

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Well, it's looking a lot better today than Saturday (for California, Oregon and Washington anyway)...

In an ironic fate, Okanagan Valley in BC is experiencing smoke and they weren't the ones responsible.

1600129924456.png
 
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That map ^ looks much better than Saturday indeed.

Rain here this afternoon, good. They need the same down south.

* I used to live in the Okanagan valley; Paradise Ranch, Indian Rock, near Naramata, across Summerland, North of Penticton, and Oyama too, North of Kelowna, South of Vernon. First I arrived in Osoyoos. Dry, very hot, great for wine, swimming, lots of fruits, beautiful in the Spring, ...many good souvenirs, layback life and people.
Summers can hit 40° plus in the hottest days, and forests fires we had them too from lightnings. Kelowna had a devastating one one year with many homes gone.

Forest management, climate change, global warming, ... all of it...nature and humans.

We do what we do for money, not for the future. This is man's choice to have all the toys before it's all gone. Leave the toys to the grandkids for collections, plant some vines and apple trees and build a home by the forest on the hill. If the lightning hits nearby ... same as in California.

Victoria looks like part of Washington. I can be @ Amir's place in a flash.
 
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amirm

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I like looking at Windy for real-time data. Go to "Air Quality", then "PM2.5" on the sidebar.

View attachment 82715
Works for hurricane tracking as well.
Very nice!

We finally had some rain today which washed off the smoke. At least what you could smell. Multiple days of pollutants have taken the toll on me though, lowering my breathing ability.
 

zanlation

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We (most of the south East of Australia) had apocalyptic skies for nearly 5 months over our spring and summer. It was the worst summer in my memory for heat and smoke. We went straight from smoke induced lockdown to COVID19 lockdown. I still have a cough from breathing in all that smoke. Luckily we didn't get bushfires too close to our house as we back onto forest. It was a sense of dread for months that at any moment we could be packing and leaving our new house. The photos from California brings back those memories. Stay safe.
 
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No rain here today, visibility is extremely poor and air quality the worst in the world.
It smells forests burning, strong smell, and my breathing is affected, very.
It is so bad for me (with heart and lungs conditions) that if I move just a bit like yesterday going in town shopping for groceries...I almost called 911 as I was going to lose consciousness. This is truly how painful it is for me. And it happened few times in just few hours. If I would have known I would have asked someone else to go grocery shopping for me and deliver it. I was wearing my mask for the few hours that I was gone...surgical mask. I need a better mask...N95 or N99 or N100.
I do have one N95 with a valve, which is no good with COVID-19 (for other people).

* We need better forest management and less CO2 in our atmosphere.
...More electric cars and electric chimneys ... we need more rain on the wet coast, more humidity, less dryness, planting trees in the deserts and build mountains to protect frail areas. We need better coordination with our resources and better "room service" (equipment and manpower). ...Winds, lightenings, hot sun, ... all part of global warning.
You don't need to be rocket scientists to figure out how our icebergs are melting; iceberg management.
 
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We (most of the south East of Australia) had apocalyptic skies for nearly 5 months over our spring and summer. It was the worst summer in my memory for heat and smoke. We went straight from smoke induced lockdown to COVID19 lockdown. I still have a cough from breathing in all that smoke. Luckily we didn't get bushfires too close to our house as we back onto forest. It was a sense of dread for months that at any moment we could be packing and leaving our new house. The photos from California brings back those memories. Stay safe.

That is very terrible...plus all the wildlife (sweet animals) gone. My heart was bleeding looking @ it.
 

Thomas savage

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We'll restore the earth's climate to his normal state
No, that's not a mechanism thats within the realm of human influence. What's ' normal ' ?

Every Human on earth could die tomorrow and you'd still over time have quite dramatic climate variation.
 
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