Wildfire Smoke: Is Hazardous Air the New Normal?

Hundreds of Canadian wildfires have blanketed much of the northern United States in thick smoke, turning the sky a dystopian shade of orange. While the Midwest and East Coast may resemble a scene from “Mad Max,” the health risks are very real. But it wasn’t always like this – so why, then, do smoky summers seem like the new normal?

Wildfire Smoke is No Joke

Exposure to wildfire smoke can cause “relatively minor” health effects, such as eye irritation, persistent coughing, phlegm, wheezing and difficulty breathing, or more serious reactions, including “exacerbation of asthma and heart failure and premature death,” according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Evidence has also shown that short-term smoke exposure could cause preterm birth and impact cognitive performance.

The EPA’s Air Quality Index (AQI) uses six color-coded categories - green, yellow, orange, red, purple, and maroon - to track the level of air pollution and its corresponding health concerns. Green represents the cleanest conditions, when air quality is considered satisfactory and poses little or no risk, while maroon signals hazardous pollution levels and the greatest health concerns.

Residents across the Midwest and upper East Coast have spent much of the past week practically choking on wildfire smoke. As of Sunday evening, at least one area in Wisconsin had reached the purple “very unhealthy” AQI category, the second-highest level on the scale. The EPA recommended everyone “limit outdoor physical activity” and move “inside to cleaner air if you have symptoms.” The rest of the region was littered with orange and red ratings, meaning both sensitive groups and the general public could experience health effects.

Most people recover quickly after breathing in wildfire smoke, and limited exposure to lower pollution levels is unlikely to cause long-term harm. However, once air quality reaches the AQI’s red, purple, or maroon categories, the EPA advises taking extra precautions, like keeping windows and doors closed and using N95 face masks.

The EPA also recommends creating a “clean room,” which is an indoor space established to keep smoke and other particle levels as low as possible. “A clean room should be free from activities that create particles such as cooking or smoking, and the doors and windows should be kept closed to prevent smoke from getting in,” the EPA explained. “A clean room can also contain a portable air cleaner that makes the air in the room cleaner than the rest of the home.”

What Do We Do Now?

As Liberty Nation News’ Andrew Moran noted, the cause of this summer’s raging wildfires in Canada remains unclear at this time, but poor forest management is almost certainly part of the problem. The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC), a Montana-based organization that specializes in “creating market solutions for conservation,” explained that fire suppression is contributing to the wildfire problem in the United States because it has “disrupted natural fire cycles and impaired forest health.”

“As a result, the number of trees dying in national forests is rising as a result [sic] of insect infestations, drought, and disease caused by overly dense forests. Likewise, the potential for catastrophic fires is growing as more and more people build homes and live on the forest’s edge,” PERC said.

To build “more resilient forests,” PERC recommends increasing “the pace and scale of active forest management.” “Prescribed fire and mechanical thinning are two essential tools in the forester’s toolbox, but expanding the use of these tools on both public and private lands is often hamstrung by overlapping regulations, litigation, and inadequate funding,” PERC noted.

Neither Americans nor Canadians have to live like they’re stuck in a “Mad Max” movie every summer, but governments must reduce regulations and allocate funding for better forest management to get things under control. Given how slowly governments tend to move, though, you shouldn’t hold your breath – as tempting as that may be when surrounded by wildfire smoke.