Lovely day in Denver today. Not. In fact, today the city’s air was rated fifth worst in the world among major cities. Also second worst in the Western Hemisphere, coming in just behind Santiago, Chile.
For the record, the air quality index was 110, whatever that means. But it’s the rankings that get one’s attention.
Yes, some of it is Denver’s own home-grown ozone, a problem here for decades because of the geography (“down by the river” with mountains immediately to the west) and heavy traffic. But the majority of it today was smoke from fires in Oregon, Washington, and southwest Canada.
And it’s supposed to get even worse Saturday.
No politics in this story. Mother Nature is having a hissy fit and isn’t likely to calm down any time soon.
The weather folks are now telling us to expect smoke here in Reno tomorrow.
They showed a smoke map on tv last night that illustrated clearly where the smoke is now and where it will be on Saturday. We’re only on the edge of it now. We’ll be in the worst of it then. I’ve seen the same map often, but naturally couldn’t find it to post it here. Staying inside is about all we can do.
The haze from the western wildfires has reached all the way to New England.
Hard to believe. Maybe instead of burning up or drowning in rising seas, we’ll all just suffocate while Rome burns.
please stay safe, that’s not good for anyone –
You can bet I’ll be staying inside. They were saying something about inhaling this stuff for two days is the equivalent of smoking several packs of cigarettes. Ugh.
We may be getting to the point when climate change actually impacts daily life for everyone. It’s not just air quality but an over-strained electrical grid. A power failure in Phoenix in August would entail deaths, maybe a lot of them. And then there’s food prices. Oh my.
The predictions are getting increasingly dire and, still, too many don’t care enough to actually do something. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1963 was the first big public warning I recall, and it doesn’t seem like anything has been done all these years since. Kind of like Scarlet O’Hara in Gone With the Wind — “I’ll worry about it tomorrow.” The latest thing I read was about the weakening and possibly disappearing Gulf Stream. You and I won’t be around to see how the story ends, but I’m worried that my grandkids will be.
Real bad down here, too. It doesn’t affect me so much as it does my housemate. She’s having a horrible time. Constant headache, for one. And just fatigues her. Today is a very ugly day. Can’t see the clouds through the smoke.
Last night I ordered some higher grade filters for my HVAC and also read that running the HVAC fan 24/7 helps a bit. Ordered some N95s in case I go out. Sinuses are killing me.
Ever used a Neti-pot?
Not per se. But have the squeeze bottle thingy. Need to start using it again.