“People who are exposed to air pollution containing high levels of particulate matter are more susceptible to Covid,” she said. She has also studied how the thick haze can contribute to the spread of Covid. “Wildfire smoke has a different chemical composition and different health effects than traffic pollution,” said the UCLA environmental health professor Yifang Zhu in a statement. Air quality in South Lake Tahoe became the most hazardous in the world, worrying researchers who said the toxic air caused by the wildfires is more hazardous to breathe than other types of air pollution. Meanwhile, smoke from the fires is choking large parts of the west, and at times has reached across the country. Eighty-six fires burning across the region, with months left before winter rains could help soothe the parched region. The conditions have made wildfires more frequent, more destructive, and harder to fight. Climate change has increased ignition risks across the west, as landscapes have warmed and dried. Resources have been stretched thin and firefighters are facing burnout after battling record-breaking blazes this season. “We’re battling what we can battle and waiting for those winds to subside,” said Stephen Vollmer, a fire behavior analyst for the California department of forestry and fire protection.Įven so, the forecast made fire officials cautiously optimistic.Įasing winds could allow fire crews to get into densely forested areas to begin clearing toppled trees and branches that had blocked routes to remote communities, thus making it safer for evacuees to return to areas that burned soon after the fire ignited on 14 August, Vollmer said. The climate science behind wildfires: why are they getting worse? – video explainer
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