Wildfire smoke poses health risks across US. Why has Sacramento been spared so far?
Western wildfires are coughing up vast amounts of smoke, deteriorating the air quality and posing health risks for millions.
But this time, you are more likely to smell the smoke in New York City than you are in much of California.
Smoke from major wildfires in California, Oregon and Western Canada have pushed east, triggering air quality alerts Tuesday and Wednesday across the Midwest and East Coast. Residents from Michigan to Massachusetts to Virginia reported smoggy conditions, smokey smells and an eerie red tint to the sun.
But despite multiple large wildfires burning within 100 miles of the city, Sacramento has yet to feel any major impacts from smoke. The reason may come down to the placement of the wildfires and recent weather conditions.
Most of California’s significant wildfires are currently burning in the northeastern part of the state, over the Sierra Nevada ridge. According to Paul Ullrich, a professor at UC Davis who specializes in climate modeling, smoke from wildfires east of the ridge rarely clears the mountains and descends into the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys.
At the same time, the recent heatwave in Sacramento and surrounding areas created a large temperature disparity between the valley and the coast, which Ullrich said allowed marine air to flow into the Sacramento Valley. Marine air is thicker, and makes it more difficult for smoke to descend from higher altitudes.
While the Dixie Fire, which is burning about 100 miles north of Sacramento in the Feather River Canyon, had the potential to send large amounts of smoke into the capital region, consistent winds flowing from the west and south have pushed smoke away, Ullrich said. But that pattern could soon change.
“It’s always possible for the wind direction to shift as new weather patterns develop” Ullrich told The Bee. “Near-surface winds are notoriously difficult to predict, so it’s difficult to know far in advance whether such a shift will take place.”
As for how all that smoke made it out to the East Coast? The answer lies in the jet stream, a high-altitude wind pattern that carries air across North America. Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at UC Berkeley, told The Bee that high energy levels from the fires have sent smoke columns up to 30,000 feet in the air, where it has been picked up by the jet stream and pushed north to Canada and then to the eastern seaboard.
Smoke spread comes with high health risks
Scientists have long known that smoke inhalation can have significant health effects on humans. But recent studies are showing that wildfire smoke may be more dangerous than previously suspected, and could pose significant risks even when inhaled for a short amount of time.
Last week, the California Air Resources Board released a study that analyzed the smoke from a number of California wildfires, including the 2018 Camp Fire, California’s deadliest wildfire to date. The study found that smoke from structure-destroying wildfires contains an array of toxic chemicals such as lead and zinc. In Chico, the site measured nearest to the Camp Fire, lead concentration in the air spiked to over 50 times the normal average when smoke from the fire descended into the city.
“When wildfires burn structures, they produce a range of harmful and toxic substances,” the study concluded. “The health impacts of air pollutants produced by wildfires can be significant. … Lead exposure has been linked to high blood pressure, reproductive effects and cancer in adults.”
The study also found that the air quality following major wildfires that cause structural damage is equivalent to the air in heavily-polluted areas of China and India. Inhalation of such air has proven to increase the risk of lung and heart diseases.
In another study published in March, a team of researchers from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego found that the fine particulate matter in the air during wildfires may be up to ten times more dangerous to humans than those same fine particles when they exist in non-smoky air. Fine particulate matter can lodge in the lungs and sink into the bloodstream, and are therefore the cause of most pollution and smoke-related illnesses.
The conclusion is groundbreaking, as current air quality regulations do not account for the source of the fine particles when determining their danger level to humans. Current standards may therefore be severely underestimating the health impacts of the particles when they come from wildfire smoke.
East Coast residents shocked at smoke
While many living on the West Coast have dealt with the dangers of poor air quality from smoke, Midwest and East Coast residents are not as familiar with the phenomenon.
Tyler Bleuel, a New York City resident, has paid close attention to air quality ever since he lived in Beijing briefly during college. He said Tuesday was the first time that he saw people in New York City share his concern about the air.
“It really seemed like it was some people’s first time ever thinking about air pollution,” Bleuel said. “It’s definitely a good wake-up call to a really important issue.”
Julia Bialek, a student currently residing in Chappaqua, New York, said Tuesday was her first time witnessing smoke in the air in her town. The smoke was so strong that she could not take a short walk outdoors without breaking out into coughs and having to return home.
Like Bleuel, Bialek saw the smoke as a wake-up call, this time for the general effects of climate change.
“This is the first time I ever felt myself directly impacted by western wildfires,” Bialek said. “I do not live in an area with many natural disasters, so this was honestly the first time I really comprehended the impact of climate change. It’s scary to think that this could become normal.”
This story was originally published July 22, 2021 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Wildfire smoke poses health risks across US. Why has Sacramento been spared so far?."