The unusual event, spurred by wildfires in Canada, illustrates the kind of conditions that many may have to deal with on an increasing basis as global warming leads to severe weather and its after-affects.
The West Coast in particular is already seeing worsened wildfires due to climate change and is expected to bear the brunt of the problem in the U.S.
“It’s a pretty clear climate change fingerprint over, say, the Western U.S. as far as the fire seasons becoming more severe,” said Robert Field, an associate research scientist at Columbia University.
And where there’s fire, there’s smoke — and the negative health implications that come with it.
Stuart Batterman, an environmental health professor at the University of Michigan, said short-term exposure to this type of pollution can result in shortness of breath, asthma attacks or even heart attacks.
“What has happened historically after a couple-of-day exposure to air pollutants like this…we see bump ups in the rate of hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory disease and we also see increased rates of mortality,” Batterman said.
“People die from this, and these kinds of events sometimes occur in the next couple of days or weeks following the air pollution episode itself,” he added.
Many lawmakers on the left, meanwhile, are calling for climate action to mitigate some future impacts.
“If we ignore this moment, if we don’t take advantage of the searing example right in front of us, then we ignore a duty to act,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass) during a floor speech. “There might be a veil of smoke outside, but let’s not veil our sight to the need for climate solutions.”
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
