We all know wildfires are never a good thing—they destroy the homes of millions, seriously impact health conditions, and cause significant damage to the environment, but the story here is the damage actually goes even further than you might think. Air pollutants from wildfires and even controlled burning have been found from Canada and the southeastern U.S. all the way in Connecticut and New York City. If that doesn’t sound like a huge deal, think of it this way—that’s potentially over thousands of miles!!!
The air pollutants from the smoke only took days to travel over hundreds of miles and caused a noticeably large increase in pollution concentrations in New York City and Connecticut. The study, which was conducted in 2018, released on January 21st, 2020 and led by researchers in the Drew Gentner lab—associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering—found pollutants in the New York metropolitan area corresponding with New York-area air quality advisories for ozone. The researchers used three types of evidence including smoke maps from satellite imagery, backtracking 3-D models of air parcels, and data from observation sites to determine that the pollutants’ originated in both Canada and Southeastern U.S. in two separate cases. The danger of the pollutants’ is the content of particulate matter they produce such as black carbon and other primary organic aerosols consisting of a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, giving it the name PM2.5.
PM2.5 is a serious hazard to health when inhaled and also has huge impacts on air quality and the climate. As the air pollutants travel, the level of PM2.5 was found to decrease with distance but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s less dangerous, any level of PM2.5 is potentially harmful. Lead author Haley Rogers, an undergraduate student at the time the research experiment took place, made the statement “When people are making predictions about climate change, they’re predicting increases in wildfires, so this sort of pollution is likely going to become more common.” Co-Author Jenna Ditto, graduate student in Gentners’ lab also made the statement “ Studies indicate that there are no safe levels of PM2.5, so typically any level of it is worth taking a look at.”
Gentner suggests “..this is certainly something that needs to be considered as policy-makers put together long-term air quality management plans,” and I agree. We are running out of time to turn the climate around and save our planet from Global Warming, and are clearly being thrown more obstacles as we try to fight. It may take a lot of work, but we can make it happen—what actions can you take to make even one small step towards improving our environment? Click the link for the full article! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200122080607.htm
European Geosciences Union. “Air pollution in New York City linked to wildfires hundreds of miles away.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 January 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200122080607.htm>.
Journal Reference: Haley M. Rogers, Jenna C. Ditto, Drew R. Gentner. Evidence for impacts on surface-level air quality in the northeastern US from long-distance transport of smoke from North American fires during the Long Island Sound Tropospheric Ozone Study (LISTOS) 2018. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2020; 20 (2): 671 DOI: 10.5194/acp-20-671-2020
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