Is the apocalypse coming? What is causing this? Why is my weather app now in my most recently used? Many questions like these race through the minds of people experiencing the tri-state area’s alarming dip in air quality.
Any Air Quality Index (AQI) number under 100 is considered safe. On June 7th, Hoboken’s air quality level measured above 301 and was moved to ”hazardous” on the AQI. According to an article from AirNow.gov, “Air quality in this range triggers health warnings of emergency conditions by media outlets. The entire population is more likely to be affected by serious health effects.” Consequently, the city of Hoboken issued an alert which suspended most outside activities including concerts, exercise, and farmers markets. Stevens students saw the effects of poor air quality, as yellow smoke clouded the skies.
Many Canadian Provinces are experiencing record droughts and dryness, prolonging “fire season”. The drier, hotter weather is also making Canada’s vast forest susceptible to fires started by lightning. Ridah Syed at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel stated, “half of Canada’s wildfires are started by lightning, but those fires account for more than 85% of wildfire destruction. The other half are human-caused in various ways from discarded cigarette butts to sparks from passing trains”. Of Canada’s 362 million hectares of primarily boreal forests, most are uninhabited by humans. These forests lack the infrastructure to transport firefighters and their equipment, making it very difficult to tame the rapidly spreading fires. Understandably, Canada’s priority is human life, and fires are a naturally occurring beneficial part of a forest’s life cycle. Fighting flames in these difficult locations is deemed not worth the risk to firefighters’ lives.
Historically, more fires have occurred on Canada’s west coast, but this spring, more fires have occurred on the east coast. This may be attributed to the weakened jet stream that circulates air currents around the globe. Jet streams that flow from west to east are imperative to regulating average temperatures and weather patterns. Abnormalities have caused other weather disasters such as the infamous 2021 Texas power crisis or “deep freeze”. Jet Stream weakening can be traced back to the current global warming crisis. Global warming and weakening jet streams exemplify a positive feedback loop in which: rising temperatures stagnate jet streams, the stagnation of jet streams causes warm tropical air to flow northwards and become trapped over continents, which further fuels wildfires and releases carbon dioxide and in turn amplifies global warming.
President Biden has taken action, aiding in Canada’s fight against the rampant wildfires. On June 8th, 2023, the President released a statement stating, “Since May, more than 600 U.S. firefighters, support personnel, and firefighting assets have been deployed,” to aid Canadian firefighters. He also shared that he had spoken to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and offered his aid, mainly in Quebec where fires most directly impact American communities. In his 2024 budget request, Biden has planned for $32 billion allocated to climate resilience. This would “help build communities’ resilience to floods, wildfires, and storms, improve conservation and ecosystem management, [and] strengthen America’s disaster response capabilities.” The Biden- Harris administration is also making significant investments in the firefighting workforce, which include increasing the size of the workforce, increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and adding mental and physical health services for workers.
Despite the cloudy news, there are still many actions that citizens can take to reduce wildfires at the source and control the current burns. As previously stated, heightened anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gasses are creating the air quality issues prevalent recently. To tackle the issue at its forefront, humans will inevitably need to decrease our greenhouse gas output. Many of these changes center around being less wasteful, more deliberate with resources, and therefore are more cost effective.
We can slow climate change in many areas including; transportation, food, homes, and shopping. We can increase use of public transportation, keep vehicle tires properly inflated, and run car air conditioning less frequently. To decrease carbon emissions related to food we can decrease meat consumption, shop organic, local, and in-season, keep close track of food inventories, eat or freeze items before they expire, donate food abundance, and use reusable cutlery and dishes. At home, we can unplug appliances when not in use, donate or sell old clothes, and recycle whenever possible. Lastly, when we shop, we can avoid overconsumption, utilize reusable shopping bags, prioritize quality over quantity, thrift, and support environmentally conscious brands.
Poor air quality is negatively affecting human health, the environment, and the economy. Many seemingly small changes to everyday life can have large echoing positive effects on the current climate crisis.
