I thought about posting this in the Pub, but the anti-Canada / climate change factors probably make it more appropriate here. Smoke maps show that folks are getting this in the deep south, along w just about everywhere else in the continental U.S. First, what I've heard and read suggests that there's virtually no way Canada + all the external support they are getting could put these fires out. The link above is to a 2023 story, but that summer was particularly bad up here - worst in recorded history. This summer has been similarly bad. This is a good air quality site. So the AQ scale shows anything below 40 is good. Above 108 is considered unhealthy and at 161 it's labeled very unhealthy. We had one day a little while back where is was 249, just one digit below dangerous. Today it's 160ish and was the same down in the Twin Cities. Driving down the hill toward lake Superior we can see far and wide and the haze today was just gross. We only get so many sunny 75 clear days and this week it's been just that, but with a big dose of smoke from Canadian wildfires. It appears that the next several days will be the same. Back to the pt about putting them out. It ain't that simple. This year so far the forest burn in Canada is the size of WV or 1/4 the size of MN. There's no hwy system in Canada north of Winnipeg, which is just north of the border. They can't get enough trucks & equipment up there to these remote areas and thoroughly battle. I imagine air support helps, but that they can't put these fires out through air alone. For one, there's too much volume. Are y'all are dealing with it?
None here yet (Fairfax/DC) but the 2023 event was so bad that you couldn’t be outside on many days. I play competitive cornhole and live in a condo so have to practice in our commons. Couldn’t be outside for more than a half hour before my eyes were burning and breathing got a little weird. Our heat pump filter was trashed in days (normally 3 months minimum) and the landlord eventually had to have the outside unit serviced. It basically stopped working in the dead of summer.
Between the heavy thunderstorms sprinkled into the 105 degree heat indexes, smoke is the least of our worries. ...but nothing here on the NC coast.
Was up in upper Wisconsin a few weeks ago. Between the smoke and goose droppings dem Canadians are really shipping on us!
The sad fact is we have reached a point to where certain areas that were considered carbon sinks - including the Amazon, are more likely just to burn and become carbon emitters, not to mention the other pollutants. My guess is we are past the point of this reversing. interestingly this summer in TX has been much cooler than recent years. Slightly cooler than average. Only one 100 degree day so far here in north tx.
We have that same heat problem here… and the short rains only make it feel like a sauna... steamy and hot.
No smoke in Florida just Saharan dust. It’s been really hot this summer and as my wife and I get older the heat affects us more so we decided to do something about it. We’re putting in a pool with a screened enclosure so we can go outside in the heat. We will have to float around on a raft or chill in the water. The enclosure blocks some of the sun. That should help a little. Now when I go outside and work I’ll hit the pool instead of having to go inside for AC. Installed a heat pump should we want to swim during the winter months.
Here in Colorado, we usually see some/lots of Canadian wildfire smoke in the summer, but this year, so far, we have been somewhat lucky. Knock wood.
My son is in Milwaukee this summer and my daughter lives in Chicago and both have told us that the smoke was affecting them last week.
