ShadowController t1_ixg1snq wrote
Really makes me wonder what kind of future impact all the summers on the West Coast full of wildfire smoke will have on health down the line.
lurkerfromstoneage t1_ixge013 wrote
Yup… Seattle here too. I LOATHE fire season…like this past end of summer into fall Sept-Oct with all the fires burning in our region and the AQI was in the 100’s and 200’s for well over a month, nearly two- some days clocking the worst in the world. And 2020 similar smoke intensity. But what absolutely stymies me is the lack of awareness and precautions people actually take. The sky can be murky heavy smog with limited visibility, everything a thick smoky gray to the point you can’t even see the tops of buildings yet people of all ages and activities just carry on. Announcements are made on the news yet people just don’t care. Masks became such a highly controversial topic but it sucks that more people won’t use N95s (or better) but too many just think “eh, no big deal I’ll be fine.” Or “my kids are healthy.” While people continue to work and exercise outdoors, not even half the population has AC in their homes, These worsening fire seasons would be one hinge on me moving out away from the West. Poor AQI is hazardous to everyone, whether they accept it or not. I know for sure it makes me feel like garbage!
nathanfay t1_ixhe59q wrote
Someone told me one time that "if it's natural it's fine" as if only man could create a substance harmful to the body
adfthgchjg t1_ixiwb6w wrote
Whoever told you “if it’s natural, it’s fine” is an idiot. Arsenic is natural. So is lead. In fact, even asbestos is natural (it’s mined, not made in a factory).
nathanfay t1_ixk2uer wrote
Oh yeah I hear you loud and clear on that. He was the kind of person to eat Vaseline so I didn't exactly take him all that serious
Insufferablelol t1_ixgr9ev wrote
Isn't wildfire smoke like 10x worse than cigarettes or something?
Strazdas1 t1_ixgtyyt wrote
only in a sense that its much thicker and theres lots of it. A cigarette is what, 5 minutes filtered smoke and youre done. a firest fire is 5 days nonstop poisoning.
asdaaaaaaaa t1_ixh41a7 wrote
I'd imagine wildfire smoke is probably a lot less worse than industrial/residential smoke as well, due to it mainly being burning wood/organics. With actual buildings and stuff, there's so many things not meant to burn, or off-gas some pretty terrible stuff just due to being plastic or some other commonly used material. Would be interesting to see a study on the differences over a longer period of time.
Strazdas1 t1_ixh4f07 wrote
A house fire does include hazardous smoke, but they tend to produce a lot less exhaust mass than a burning forest. Note that the #1 pollutant in cities used to be people using wood in their stoves.
ZippyDan t1_ixibt7v wrote
I don't know why you would think that "natural" burned stuff is somehow "better" than "artificial" burned stuff. I mean, it could be, and certainly some artificial stuff is really nasty, but it's all really bad to be breathing in. It's not like we were "designed" to breathe in "organic" smoke. It's all bad.
asdaaaaaaaa t1_ixh3wv9 wrote
Just look towards cities that already regularly sit in the 250-500 range on the pollution maps, it's not good.
moeru_gumi t1_ixh7sdh wrote
That, and all the people who live or lived in parts of Asia where the human and car and pollution density is unreal.
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