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<ul class="summary-list"><li>New images from NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who's onboard the International Space Station, show the <a href="https://www.insider.com/australia-fires-smoke-acres-graphics-scale-2020-1">scale of the Australian bushfires</a> from space.</li><li>Smoke from the blazes covers nearly 70% of the country.</li><li>NASA models suggest that global wind patterns will <a href="https://www.insider.com/australia-fires-nasa-predicts-smoke-make-full-circle-around-earth-2020-1">carry the smoky air on a full circuit of the globe</a>.</li><li>Climate change <a href="https://www.insider.com/australia-prime-minister-fires-climate-change-emisisons-2020-1">worsens the conditions that lead to severe fires</a> like these.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>NASA astronaut Christina Koch <a href="https://twitter.com/Astro_Christina/status/1217097749809782784">shared a brief yet powerful message from space</a> on Tuesday: "Australia. Our hearts and thoughts are with you."</p><p>Koch, who is living on the International Space Station, posted several photos of the smoke from Australia's fires, as seen from her vantage point 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth. </p><p>Approximately 70% of Australia's 3 million square miles of land is covered by a layer of gray and brown smoke. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/nasa-animates-world-path-of-smoke-and-aerosols-from-australian-fires">According to NASA</a>, the smoke had already traveled halfway around the planet by January 8, "turning the skies hazy and causing colorful sunrises and sunsets" in South America.</p><p>The agency expects the smoke to <a href="https://www.insider.com/australia-fires-nasa-predicts-smoke-make-full-circle-around-earth-2020-1">make a full circuit of the globe</a> and return to Australia.</p><p>As of last week, the wildfires - some of the worst in Australia's history - had burned approximately 25 million acres, claimed the lives of 27 people, and destroyed over 2,000 homes. A billion animals are feared dead.</p><h2>Australia's smoke from space </h2><p>Satellites have tracked the growth of Australia's bushfires for weeks. Cameras also pinpointed the blazes' hotspots in infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye. That data can reveal the centers of blazes, so the information is sent to land managers and firefighters working to contain the outbreaks.</p><p>In recent weeks, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/australia-wildfires-space-satellite-pictures-smoke-new-zealand-2020-1#redder-and-longer-wavelengths-of-light-such-as-near-infrared-can-show-fiery-hotspots-on-the-ground-through-the-haze-and-smoke-3">satellites have also spotted</a> the brown smoke as it spread. The plume's <a href="https://www.insider.com/australia-fires-smoke-acres-graphics-scale-2020-1">surface area</a> is nearly double the size of Argentina and a little over half the size of Canada.</p><p>Particulate matter from smoke can irritate people's eyes and respiratory systems and exacerbate chronic heart and lung diseases. In the US, an estimated 20,000 people die prematurely each year due to chronic exposure to smoke, <a href="https://apnews.com/903ca717a11f44de9f007844f05f5279">according to the Associated Press</a>.</p><p>The fires in Australia began in September but picked up significantly in December, which was Australia's driest December on record. Last year was the country's hottest on record, according to Australia's <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/drought/">Bureau of Meteorology.</a> </p><p>Many affected areas have gotten rain and slightly lower temperatures over the last week, which has provided some relief, but the majority of the fires are still burning. </p><h2>Climate change and wildfires</h2><p>Most of the fires in Australia ignited due to natural causes, but like other major wildfires in recent years, they've been exacerbated by climate change. </p><p>Rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cause Earth's temperature to rise, which leads to more hot and dry weather, longer droughts, and higher rates of evaporation. Those conditions raise the risk of wildfires.</p><p>The problem is not limited to Australia, of course: California experienced its worst wildfire season ever in 2018, and wildfires in Siberia last year razed more than 6.5 million acres (about 26,000 square kilometers).</p><p>Wildfires also further contribute to climate change by sending more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. </p><p>Richard Betts, a professor of geography at Exeter University, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/14/australia-bushfires-harbinger-future-scientists">told The Guardian</a> that extreme events like the Australian bushfires will likely become commonplace if the world's temperature rises 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Already, Australia's average temperature has risen about 1.4 degrees, compared to the global average of 1.1 degrees. </p><p>"We are seeing a sign of what would be normal conditions in a 3C world. It tells us what the future world might look like," Betts said.</p><p>Australian prime minister Scott Morrison's administration, however, has said it <a href="https://www.insider.com/australia-prime-minister-fires-climate-change-emisisons-2020-1">doesn't plan to further limit emissions</a> from the country's coal industry. Last week, more than 30,000 Australians protested in Sydney to condemn what they see as insufficient action taken by the administration to address the bushfires and climate change, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/sydney-cbd-climate-protest-attracts-thousands-20200110-p53qhq.html">according to the Sydney Morning Herald</a>.</p><p>Meanwhile, Australia faces about two more months of fire season.</p>

An astronaut in space photographed the giant smoke plume from Australia's fires. Nearly 70% of the country is covered in haze.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Wildfires across Canada are giving off smoke that is spilling into the US.</li><li>Hazy skies cloaked the East Coast and Midwest on Tuesday, and the EPA issued air quality alerts.</li></ul><p>Wildfires are sweeping across Canada, and the smoke is spilling down into the United States, cloaking the East Coast with haze and an acrid smell.</p><p>US authorities issued air quality alerts from Cleveland to New York City, urging people to stay inside. </p><p>While eerily beautiful, the yellow atmosphere, red-orb sun, and lavender mist are a result of fine-particle pollution (or, PM 2.5), Dr. David Hill, a pulmonologist with the American Lung Association, told the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-wildfires-air-quality-8af805b127ba4d4f5933463cf8fdc746" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AP</a>. </p><p>"We have defenses in our upper airway to trap larger particles and prevent them from getting down into the lungs. These are sort of the right size to get past those defenses," Hill said. "When those particles get down into the respiratory space, they cause the body to have an inflammatory reaction to them."</p><h2><strong>What is the risk of wildfire smoke?</strong></h2><p>Fine-particle air pollution can cause inflammation in the lungs and reduce heart function – lasting effects similar to smoking cigarettes or exposure to diesel exhaust, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/09/well/live/fire-smoke-lung-cancer.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the New York Times reported</a>. </p><p>Dr. Kari Nadeau, a physician and scientist at Stanford University, told the Times she believes the risk to our health is higher than that of smoking cigarettes. "Cigarettes at least have filters," Nadeau said.</p><p>This kind of air pollution is particularly risky for children, whose lungs are still developing. </p><p>"They breathe in more air per unit of body weight," Laura Kate Bender, the lung association's National Assistant Vice President of healthy air, told the AP.</p><p>The risk of lung and heart irritation is also higher for older adults and people with lung or cardiovascular conditions, including asthma.</p><h2><strong>6 ways to stay safe</strong> when it's smoky outside</h2><ul><li><strong>Keep an eye on the </strong><a href="https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>air quality in your area</strong></a> to determine how long you should exercise caution. Until the risk passes, there are easy things you can do to protect yourself from experiencing long-term lung inflammation.</li><li>If possible, <strong>stay inside</strong> and close your windows, Hill said. (You can punch your zip code into <a href="https://www.airnow.gov/">AirNow.gov</a> to find out the air quality in your area.)</li><li><strong>Do not burn candles, light a fire, or smoke indoors.</strong> That increases indoor pollution, according to a <a href="https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/well-its-wildfire-season?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email">blog post</a> from epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina, of the University of Texas Health Science Center.</li><li><strong>Do not vacuum.</strong> That also affects your indoor air by kicking up any fine particles that may have come in through your window or door, Jetelina said.</li><li><strong>If you do go outside, wear an N95 mask</strong>, which — if fitted correctly — blocks out 95% of particles larger than 0.3 microns. As such, they effectively keep out 2.5-micron particles, which we're seeing from the wildfire smoke. "N95 masks are the type of face covering protection that I would recommend for somebody who is outside during the air pollution caused by wildfires," Marina Vance, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health-news/here-are-the-face-masks-that-protect-you-from-wildfire-smoke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Healthline</a>.</li><li>While inside, you can run your <strong><a href="https://www.insider.com/guides/home/best-air-conditioner">air-conditioning</a></strong> unit <a href="https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/wildfires-and-indoor-air-quality-iaq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">if it has a good HVAC filter</a>, and an <strong><a href="https://www.insider.com/guides/home/best-air-purifier">air purifier</a></strong> can help too, the American Lung Association recommends.</li></ul>

Wildfire smoke can irritate your lungs, and may be as dangerous as cigarettes. Here's how to protect yourself.

<p class="drop-cap">With mild winters, plenty of open space, and endless opportunities for outdoor recreation, it's easy to see why <keyword id="11918419" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="colorado" source="Orion">Colorado</keyword> is one of the fastest-growing states in the US.</p><p>"We were tired of having to spend nine winter months indoors without the sun," Ashley O'Connor, who moved to Colorado from Chicago in 2015, told Insider. "We like to joke that we traded skyscrapers for mountains."</p><p>O'Connor and her husband are hardly alone. According to <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/more-than-half-of-united-states-counties-were-smaller-in-2020-than-in-2010.html">census data</a>, Colorado was one of the fastest-growing states from 2010 to 2020, increasing its population by nearly 15%. Colorado real estate has also been booming for years and experienced an even greater boost during the pandemic as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/colorado-quarantine-location-rich-americans-millennials-urban-exodus-agents-2020-08">urbanites ditched cities for less crowded spaces</a>.</p><p>But one of the state's biggest draws - abundant access to the <keyword id="11994969" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="outdoors" source="Orion">outdoors</keyword> - is under threat.</p><p>The air in Colorado is getting dirtier, resulting in more days where haze obscures the mountains and when public health officials say it's unsafe to be outside, let alone do something active.</p><p>"For the last three months, three out of four days were <keyword id="11977673" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="air-quality" source="Orion">air quality</keyword> alerts," Frank Flocke, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, told Insider in mid-September. "We just had a clear day for the first time for weeks, where you could actually see the mountains."</p><div type="image" title="A hazy view of the downtown Denver skyline from Sloan Lake in Denver, Colorado on Tuesday, August 3, 2021." height="2670" width="3561" msid="86713009" hostid="261"></div><p>Ozone pollution and wildfire smoke are largely responsible for obscuring the view of the Rocky Mountains, an increasingly common sight in Colorado, according to Flocke.</p><p>This summer, Colorado public health officials <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BHUei0iDaE2EvSIrD4KAN9xy9mQQWhLDAgZtA1iFSl4/edit#gid=0">issued an ozone alert every day</a> from July 5 to August 14, marking a 41-day stretch of air quality warnings. The state issued <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2021/08/25/front-range-air-quality-ozone-wildfire-smoke/">65 ozone action day alerts</a> from June through August, more than any year since 2016, when the current ozone standard was set.</p><h2>'Hazy, smoky mountain ranges have become a bit of a regular sight'</h2><p>For longtime residents, the change in air quality, and the impact it's had on their outdoor life, is evident.</p><p>"Honestly, it's heartbreaking," Susanna Joy, who has lived in Colorado most of her life, told Insider. "Those of us that are from here have noticed a really big shift in our ability to enjoy life how we grew up."</p><p>Joy said she grew up outdoors and remains an avid hiker who loves camping and being outside as much as possible. She said air quality and <keyword id="11898861" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wildfires" source="Orion">wildfires</keyword> weren't even on her radar growing up, a stark difference from recent years.</p><p>"I never thought about air quality when I was planning outdoor adventures and now it's something that we look at consistently," Joy said.</p><p>Now, she gets an email every morning from a local newspaper that tells her the air quality for that day, so she can decide if she even wants to think about doing something outside.</p><p>"There's been multiple times where we're planning a 40-mile bike ride and we just don't do it because the air quality is too bad or it's too hot," she said.</p><p>Checking in on air quality has become a daily part of many Coloradoans' lives. The air quality index, or AQI - a tool used by government agencies to convey to the public how safe the air is on any given day - has become as common a discussion point as which 14er, or mountain peak higher than 14,000 feet, is hardest to hike to.</p><p>Even for recent transplants, the change is palpable, according to O'Connor, who lives in the Rockies in Summit County, home to some of the state's most popular ski resorts, like Breckenridge and Keystone.</p><p>Being outside "isn't just about hobbies, it is a way of life," O'Connor said. She loves to ski, bike, take her sailboat out on the Dillon Reservoir, and hike the many trails located minutes from her home.</p><p>But the "hazy, smoky mountain ranges have become a bit of a regular sight since moving here," she said. "Not only has it affected the amount of time we are willing to spend outdoors, but how we spend it."</p><p>O'Connor said she and her husband even wake up sometimes with "red, burning, itchy eyes" and congestion due to the poor air quality.</p><div type="image" title="The sky is illuminated as the sun sets behind the Rocky Mountain Thursday, Sept. 10, 2021, in Denver." height="3744" width="4992" msid="86713010" hostid="261"></div><h2>The culprits: 'A product of our own doing'</h2><p>Ozone is the primary pollutant taking a toll on Colorado's air, according to Flocke.</p><p>Colorado has some of the worst ozone pollution of anywhere in the US. In 2019, the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-reclassifies-denver-area-serious-nonattainment-ozone">Environmental Protection Agency</a> reclassified the Denver area as a "serious" violator of federal air quality standards. The agency gave the state until July of this year to get the ozone pollution under control, but that deadline <a href="https://coloradonewsline.com/2021/07/21/denver-area-again-misses-deadline-to-meet-epa-air-quality-standards/">came and went</a>.</p><p>Ozone is a naturally occurring and man-made gas found in Earth's atmosphere. High-altitude ozone, like that found in the ozone layer, protects the planet by absorbing UV rays from the sun. Ground-level ozone, on the other hand, is emitted by things like cars, chemical plants, and oil and gas refineries, and enters the air we breathe.</p><p>Flocke said ozone pollution is "mainly a product of our own doing," calling transportation of people and goods and the oil and gas industry the "elephants in the room" when it comes to cutting ozone emissions.</p><p>A <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019JD031197">2019 study</a> co-authored by Flocke found the fossil fuel and transportation sectors were the major contributors to ozone on Colorado's front range.</p><div type="image" title="Bumper to bumper traffic on Interstate 70 in Colorado, a familiar scene on the main highway connecting Denver to the mountains." height="4084" width="5446" msid="86713011" hostid="261"></div><p>The millions of recent Colorado transplants aren't helping the problem, as the increase in population and traffic only causes those emissions to rise.</p><p>Breathing ozone can lead to serious health effects, according to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ozone-pollution-and-your-patients-health/health-effects-ozone-general-population">EPA</a>, including coughing, throat irritation, chest pain, and shortness of breath, as well as longer-lasting issues like declining lung function. There is also strong evidence linking higher ozone levels with asthma attacks, increased hospitalizations, and increased mortality.</p><p>Sensitive groups, including older people, children, and people with respiratory issues are especially at risk, but high ozone levels can trigger symptoms even for people who aren't at higher risk.</p><h2>'The fires make everything worse'</h2><p>Those impacts are only magnified by the other pollutant permeating Colorado's air: fine particulate matter from wildfires. Particulate matter, or PM pollution, refers to tiny particles found in the air that are so small they can be inhaled when breathing.</p><p>"The fires make everything worse because they add the particles to the ozone," Flocke said. </p><p>The particles emitted from wildfires can get deep into the lungs and even the bloodstream, according to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/health-and-environmental-effects-particulate-matter-pm">EPA</a>. Studies have linked PM to premature deaths in people with heart or lung disease, heart attacks, decreased lung function, and respiratory problems.</p><p>Even in years when Colorado has a relatively mild wildfire season, like this year, the state still deals with dangerous levels of PM blown in from other parts of the West. This year, fires in California and Oregon brought hazy, smoky days all the way to Colorado.</p><div type="image" title="Smoke from the Grizzly Creek Fire blankets Glenwood Canyon and Interstate 70 on August 26, 2020 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado." height="2682" width="3577" msid="86713013" hostid="261"></div><p>"They made a lot of the days multiple pollutant warning days, where you had ozone exceed the standard and particulates exceed the standard at the same time," Flocke said. "For people that are sensitive to pollution, that really makes it hard to be outside and enjoy life."</p><p>Flocke said the issue is worsened by the fact that the meteorological conditions that prevent the local ozone from being flushed out by cold fronts are the same conditions that bring in the wildfire smoke from the coast.</p><h2>'If we tackle the climate problem, we will slowly also tackle our air quality problem'</h2><p>The impact of wildfires on Colorado's air quality is unlikely to let up so long as the climate continues to warm, according to Russ Schumacher, director of the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University.</p><p>"Many studies, going back 10 to 15 years, have projected that the amount of acreage burned of wildfires in the West was going to increase as the climate warms," he told Insider. "We're starting to see that now."</p><p>Schumacher said the wildfires aren't solely due to <keyword id="11896311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-change" source="Orion">climate change</keyword>, but that climate change and the related droughts and heatwaves have set the stage for these big fires.</p><p>Climate change and air quality are "intimately connected," according to Flocke: "Our lifestyle causes emissions of CO2, which exacerbate climate change, which exacerbate the fires, which exacerbate our air quality problems."</p><div type="image" title="Denver Skyline as seen from the Cherry Creek Dam road in Denver, Colorado on April 30, 2015." height="2660" width="3546" msid="86713014" hostid="261"></div><p>But, he said, both crises could be addressed in Colorado with many of the same actions. Enacting tighter regulations on oil and gas emissions, improving public transportation, and disincentivizing driving would all help cut greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants.</p><p>"If we tackle the climate problem, we will slowly also tackle our air quality problem," Flocke said, adding that the solutions are "clear" but that there needs to be political will to actually implement them.</p><p>He said the increase in awareness about air quality, partly driven by the wildfires and climate change, could result in a greater push for change. The many transplants moving to the state could have a positive impact on that as well.</p><p>"People move to Colorado because they have this idea that we have clean mountain air," he said. "Maybe they will be more susceptible to accept stricter regulations."</p><p>Joy echoed those sentiments, saying she's "hopeful that this isn't just how summer is now, because I enjoyed summer so much as a kid."</p><p>While she personally tries to minimize her impact on emissions, she said she's also trying to come to terms with the fact that "until we make some big changes that help us reduce the impact that we're having overall, it's not going to change. It's going to continue to amplify."</p><p><em>Have a <keyword id="11893589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news" source="Orion">news</keyword> tip? Contact this reporter at </em><a href="mailto:kvlamis@insider.com?inline-read-more"><em>kvlamis@insider.com</em></a><em>.</em></p>

People are flocking to Colorado for the great outdoors, but air pollution is leading to more days when residents are stuck inside

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>California's recent <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/california-wildfires" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wildfires</a> have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-wildfires-map-evacuations-roads-closed-2018-11">killed at least 82 people</a>. Nearly 700 others are still missing.</strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/smoke">Smoke</a> from the blazes is billowing high into the atmosphere and drifting across the US.</strong></li><li><strong>California's smoky haze has created "smokestorm" conditions, but fine particles have spread as far as New York City.</strong></li><li><strong>The hazy smoke has changed the appearance of sunsets and sunrises, making them more orange in color.</strong></li></ul><p>The recent scourge of wildfires in California have claimed the lives of at least 82 people, and authorities report that nearly 700 others are still missing.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-camp-fire-death-toll-most-destructive-in-history-2018-11">Camp Fire in northern California</a> has proven the most deadly in the state's history, killing 79 people. The blaze has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-wildfires-paradise-magalia-before-after-satellite-photos-2018-11">scorched more than 150,000 acres of land</a>, destroyed more than 15,000 buildings, and is about <a href="https://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents/incidentdetails/Index/2277" target="_blank" rel="noopener">70% contained</a> as of Tuesday.</p><p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-wildfires-paradise-magalia-before-after-satellite-photos-2018-11">Satellite images show how the Camp Fire destroyed entire towns and killed dozens of people</a></em></p><p>But smoke from the expansive fire, along with contributions from the almost-extinguished Woolsey Fire outside of LA, has not remained in California. Large clouds of fine particles have drifted to nearby states like Washington, creating hazy, smoky conditions that one meteorologist in Seattle called a "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/smokestorms-newest-weather-pattern-caused-climate-change-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">smokestorm</a>."</p><p>Even finer particles of smoke have joined high-altitude jet streams and, as of Monday evening, made their way across the continental US. They even reached New York City, according to an experimental NOAA forecasting tool called <a href="https://rapidrefresh.noaa.gov/hrrr/HRRRsmoke/Welcome.cgi?dsKey=hrrr_smoke&amp;domain=full&amp;run_time=19+Nov+2018+-+18Z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">High Resolution Rapid Refresh</a>.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>The image above shows a 4 p.m. EST forecast for yesterday, right before the sun set in eastern New York.</p><p>Specifically, the forecast showed levels of "vertically integrated smoke": fine smoke particles dispersed throughout various layers of the atmosphere.</p><p>"Wow. I knew tonight's sunset over New York City seemed different, and I should've realized!" Kathryn Prociv, a meteorologist and producer for NBC <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">News</keyword> and the Today Show, <a href="https://twitter.com/KathrynProciv/status/1064648817600065536" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted on Monday</a>. "Wildfire smoke is in the air, all the way from California."</p><p>Prociv included a photo of a sunset that she took from the Hudson River, as well as a NOAA forecast.</p><p>Her image is hazier and more orange-colored than is typical for the city. This may be because the smoke particles that wafted over the US - like other <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-least-toxic-countries-pollution-environment-2017-2">fine air pollutants</a> - are as small as 2.5 microns, or about the size of a single microbe. Such particles can absorb bluer colors of sunlight and affect the look and color of sunrises and sunsets. They can also cool down air temperatures.</p><p>The animated map below shows the NOAA's 36-hour smoke forecast as of Tuesday afternoon.</p><p>This forecast shows a thinning trail of smoke drifting across the US through Wednesday. That diminishing trend should continue, since California's wildfires are increasingly being contained (and spouting less soot into the air).</p><p>However, far-flung smoky sunsets caused by wildfires may become a "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-winds-that-fanned-southern-california-wildfire-diminish-2018-11">new abnormal</a>" for the US as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/paris-climate-change-limits-100-years-2017-6">climate change exacerbates dry, fire-spreading conditions</a> in California and other states.</p><div><div style="position:relative; padding-bottom:69.40%"></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-firenado-fire-tornado-forms-wildfire-2017-10">A 'firenado' is a real thing - here's how the dangerous phenomenon forms</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Smoke from California's wildfires is drifting across the US to New York - and it's making pretty sunsets

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360584" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="smoke">Smoke</keyword> from <a href="https://www.insider.com/west-coast-fires-climate-change-california-treats-fire-backlog-2020-9">unprecedented wildfires</a> on the <keyword id="44875" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="West-coast">West Coast</keyword> could leave millions of people more vulnerable to the <keyword id="43544" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Flu">flu</keyword> and <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword>.</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/view-earth-from-space-show-smoke-from-west-coast-wildfires-2020-9">Wildfire smoke</a> contains tiny particulate matter, called PM2.5, that can penetrate deep into the <keyword id="6363498" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lungs">lungs</keyword> and spread through the bloodstream.</li><li>These particles can damage the lungs, blood vessels, and immune system, leaving the body less equipped to fight off an infection.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/west-coast-wildfires-map-of-biggest-fires-color-coded-2020-9">Unprecedented wildfires</a> have been raging along the West Coast for more than a week.</p><p>Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in Washington, Oregon, and California, and even those who don't live near a fire have been trapped inside for days due to hazardous air from the smoke blanketing the coast.</p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/west-coast-hazardous-air-quality-worst-on-earth-wildfire-smoke-2020-9">Pollution levels skyrocketed across all three states last week</a>, making the air outside unsafe to breath and rivaling the most polluted cities in the world. Forecasts don't expect the air to clear significantly until later this week.</p><div type="image" title="wildfires california oregon washington fires smoke west coast satellite image" height="426" width="600" msid="78137057" hostid="261"></div><p>A growing body of research shows smoke can damage the lungs, blood vessels, and immune system, leaving people more vulnerable to respiratory illness. So when flu season arrives, the lingering effects of the poor air could exacerbate twin outbreaks of flu and <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword>.</p><p>"That's something that we need to watch carefully," <a href="https://health.oregonstate.edu/people/perry-hystad">Perry Hystad</a>, an environmental epidemiologist and associate professor at Oregon State University, told Business Insider. "Because there is this evidence in terms of air pollution suppressing the immune system and making individuals more susceptible to the flu and, of course, potentially coronavirus."</p><h2><keyword id="41285" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wildfire">Wildfire</keyword> smoke is terrible for your lungs</h2><div type="image" title="wildfires smoke oregon mask fire damage destruction" height="1466" width="1955" msid="78137060" hostid="261"></div><p>The most hazardous thing about wildfire smoke is the tiny particulate matter it carries — specifically, particles that measure no more than 2.5 micrometers across (that's about 30 times smaller than a human hair). These are known as PM2.5.</p><p>When humans inhale smoke, these particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and even the bloodstream. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6015400/">Research</a> has connected PM2.5 pollution to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and premature death. In healthy people short-term, it can irritate the eyes and lungs and cause wheezing, coughs, or difficulty breathing.</p><p>"There's a lot of research on what wildfires can do, or what air pollution does, to the lungs," Stephanie Christenson, a pulmonary and critical care physician at the University of California, San Francisco, told Business Insider. </p><p>That research shows PM2.5 particles can damage the lining of the lungs and cause inflammation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/covid-19/wildfire_smoke_covid-19.html#:~:text=Wildfire%20smoke%20can%20irritate%20your,a%20little%20different%20this%20year.">warns</a> that it can "make you more prone to lung infections," since any breach in the lungs' lining offers more opportunities for a virus to infiltrate.</p><p>Smoke can also impact the heart and blood vessels: Many studies have linked wildfires to increases in heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. That's probably because when PM2.5 particles get into the blood, they can cause <a href="https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/07/22/where-theres-wildfire-smoke-there-may-be-heart-problems#:~:text=Wildfire%20smoke%20is%20particularly%20dangerous,blood%20clots%20and%20heart%20attacks.">inflammation and clotting</a>. Blood pressure can also rise just from the stress of living in <a href="https://www.insider.com/oregon-california-smoke-turns-skies-apocalyptic-orange-photos-2020-9">an apocalyptic, sepia-toned haze</a> (not to mention the difficulty of evacuating your home).</p><div type="image" title="sausalito" height="1998" width="2664" msid="78137061" hostid="261"></div><p>One <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/EHP5792">study</a> looked at more than 670,000 ambulance dispatch calls during five wildfire seasons in British Columbia, Canada, and found an increase in respiratory and cardiovascular issues within just one hour of a rise in PM2.5 pollution.</p><p>"Around the time of wildfires, we actually get more patients going into the hospitals with severe respiratory complaints like pneumonias," Christenson said. "There's actually a higher mortality rate after wildfires that we think [is] due to health conditions, not just people perishing in wildfires."</p><p>PM2.5 particles can also impair the immune system, possibly by <a href="https://europepmc.org/article/med/28887033">disabling immune cells</a> in the lungs or by simply being overwhelming.</p><p>"These particles can cross into the bloodstream and sort of reach everywhere in the body," Hystad said. "So your immune system is definitely under pressure."</p><h2>Smoky air and COVID-19</h2><p>It's still unclear how PM2.5 exposure will influence coronavirus infections, but odds are it won't be good.</p><p>"There's some research that's coming out to show that air pollution will increase susceptibility [to coronavirus], and we know that air pollution is robustly linked to increases in cardiovascular disease," Hystad said. "One of the biggest risk factors for COVID is a preexisting condition. So right off the bat there, we know that air pollution is putting people at more risk."</p><div type="image" title="california fires" height="2000" width="2666" msid="78137063" hostid="261"></div><p>Researchers at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health <a href="https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/covid-pm">found</a> that people with COVID-19 were more likely to die if they lived in a county with high levels of PM2.5 air pollution. A <a href="http://ftp.iza.org/dp13367.pdf">few</a> other <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7345938/">studies</a> have shown a similar connection.</p><p>"We're still kind of in our infancy of what wildfires in connection with COVID-19 do to the lungs, because we just don't have the data yet," Christenson said, adding, "I'm worried that if you are exposed to the wildfires and you have COVID-19, you could have more symptoms or worse disease." </p><h2><keyword id="42704" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="fires">Fires</keyword> might make flu season worse, too</h2><div type="image" title="coronavirus virus flu sick cold hygiene hand sanitizer clorox hands wash sneeze runny nose sinus infection cox 1" height="1667" width="2222" msid="78137065" hostid="261"></div><p>Some preliminary evidence indicates that bad wildfire seasons can prompt especially bad flu seasons.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412019326935">recent analysis</a> of nine years of data from Montana revealed that months after prolonged wildfire smoke, communities had three to five times more flu cases than normal.</p><p>"In other words, our study showed cases of flu go up after bad fire seasons," Erin Landguth, an associate professor at the University of Montana who conducted the study, told <a href="https://www.cpr.org/2020/08/24/colorado-coronavirus-wildfires-smoke-risks/">Colorado Public Radio</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4750357/">Two</a> <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-7607-2">studies</a> from China have also found associations between PM2.5 exposure and increased flu-like illness, though that research was not about wildfire smoke in particular.</p><p>To make matters worse, wildfires have been persisting <a href="https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/">later</a> into the year over the last few decades as a warming climate lengthens the dry season. That raises the possibility that smoky conditions will overlap with flu season — fire season typically peaks in late September or early October, which is when flu season usually begins.</p><div type="image" title="creek fire california firefighters" height="1467" width="1956" msid="78137067" hostid="261"></div><p>That could lead hospitals in the Pacific Northwest to see an influx of patients with flu, coronavirus, and conditions exacerbated by wildfire smoke all at the same time. Hystad does not think the smoke will tip the scales enough to overwhelm hospitals, but it might compound the effects of the flu-coronavirus overlap that many experts already fear.</p><p>"We've been kind of bracing for this, as lung doctors, for awhile," Christenson said. Though the health effects of wildfire smoke develop slowly for many people, she added, "you just worry with the COVID-19 patients."</p><p><em>Susie Neilson contributed reporting to this story.</em></p>

Wildfire smoke is likely to leave millions of people more vulnerable to flu and the coronavirus this fall

<p>The stench from a brush fire in southern New Jersey has spread all the way to New York City, creating a haze in some areas and a noticeable smoky smell throughout the city.</p>
<p>The fire, which was about 90 miles from Manhattan, burned about two square miles in Wharton State Forest on Sunday, <a href="http://www.abc27.com/story/25178305/smell-from-nj-brush-fire-carries-to-nyc">according to</a> the Associated Press. </p>
<p>Check out some of the photos:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Large brush fire in South Jersey creating a large plume of smoke <a href="http://t.co/ULhfvN6Gqq">pic.twitter.com/ULhfvN6Gqq</a></p>
- Clayton Collier (@Clayton_Collier) <a href="https://twitter.com/Clayton_Collier/statuses/452924363671883777">April 6, 2014</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Smell smoke? Likely from <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23brushfire&amp;src=hash">#brushfire</a> at Wharton State Forest. MORE PHOTOS&gt;&gt; <a href="http://t.co/JgGig5zbGP">http://t.co/JgGig5zbGP</a> <a href="http://t.co/4Y52c8wJYs">pic.twitter.com/4Y52c8wJYs</a></p>
- News12NJ (@News12NJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/News12NJ/statuses/453144964688379904">April 7, 2014</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NewsCopter7&amp;src=hash">#NewsCopter7</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/ChopperDanRice">@ChopperDanRice</a> are live over the 4 alarm brush fire in <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NewJersey&amp;src=hash">#NewJersey</a>! <a href="http://t.co/Po8SOs5mgU">pic.twitter.com/Po8SOs5mgU</a></p>
- NewYorkNewsStations (@Ny_NewsObserver) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ny_NewsObserver/statuses/398208513178357760">November 6, 2013</a></blockquote>

<p>The fire has cast a haze over the city:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>This is what that brush fire has done to NYC <a href="http://t.co/CEgiB6a0YF">pic.twitter.com/CEgiB6a0YF</a></p>
- The Paw Print (@pawprintMJP) <a href="https://twitter.com/pawprintMJP/statuses/453138572397535232">April 7, 2014</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Visible smoke haze over Brooklyn from that brush fire 90miles away. You can see it and smell it on Wall Street too <a href="http://t.co/XGKi3qYUK4">pic.twitter.com/XGKi3qYUK4</a></p>
- Lisa Ann Volpe (@volpela) <a href="https://twitter.com/volpela/statuses/453147853876367360">April 7, 2014</a></blockquote>

<p>Winds are likely to blame for carrying the smoke to New York City, <a href="http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Smoke-Smell-Staten-Island-Brooklyn-New-York-Queens-Forest-Fire-Wharton-254141121.html">according to</a> NBC New York. The smoke is hovering near the ground because of an atmospheric pattern that prevents air from rising.</p>
<p>The smell should lift in about eight to 12 hours, according to NBC.</p>
<p>Smoke could be seen for miles. The fire has been contained but is not yet completely extinguished.</p>
<p>It's so far unclear what caused the fire.</p>

Here's Why All Of New York City Smells Like Smoke Today

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul><li><strong>A firestorm has ravaged parts of Northern California's wine country.</strong></li><li><strong>People in San Francisco awoke to red, hazy skies and a thick stench of smoke on Monday morning. Some residents feared the fire reached the city.</strong></li><li><strong>Strong winds caused the smell to push south across the Bay Area.</strong></li></ul><p>Many people living in San Francisco awoke in a panic on Monday, smelling smoke from a series of fires that have been burning through Northern California's wine country since late Sunday.</p><p>Fourteen fires ignited overnight and grew as strong, dry winds spread the flames over fields and freeways. The eight-county blaze is shaping up to be one the <a href="http://beta.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-napa-fires-20171009-story.html">worst firestorms in state history</a>. It has destroyed at least 1,500 homes, businesses, and other structures.</p><p>In San Francisco, the sky turned red and hazy as fires scorched land more than a hundred miles away. Thick smoke filled the air, causing some residents to believe the flames reached closer.</p><p>Residents took to social media to express their fears.</p><p>Some people were stirred from their sleep by the smell of smoke.</p><p>At 4:42 a.m., the San Francisco Fire Department posted from its official Twitter account, "If your [sic] smelling smoke in SF it is more likely due to the Napa Fire and the Strong winds."</p><p>A meteorologist with the National Weather Service told The Mercury <keyword id="6355005" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="News">News</keyword> that <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/09/smell-of-smoke-from-napa-sonoma-county-fires-saturates-bay-area/">strong winds caused the widespread smell of smoke</a> to fan from the northeast to the Bay Area.</p><p>In the lower Bay Area counties, a police dispatcher <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Smoke-from-fires-trigger-Bay-Area-social-media-12263070.php">told the San Francisco Chronicle</a> they received several calls to 911 in San Mateo County due to "drift smoke from Sonoma County."</p><p>The social media frenzy may have subsided, but San Franciscans are still feeling the effects of the firestorm raging in the north. It left a coating of ash on homes and cars in the city.</p><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/parachuting-directly-into-wildfires-2016-9">Meet the badass fire fighters who parachute directly into the flames</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

You Searched For "smoky haze" and got 7 results

An astronaut in space photographed the giant smoke plume from Australia's fires. Nearly 70% of the country is covered in haze.

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Wildfire smoke can irritate your lungs, and may be as dangerous as cigarettes. Here's how to protect yourself.

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People are flocking to Colorado for the great outdoors, but air pollution is leading to more days when residents are stuck inside

Kelsey Vlamis

Smoke from California's wildfires is drifting across the US to New York - and it's making pretty sunsets

Dave Mosher

Wildfire smoke is likely to leave millions of people more vulnerable to flu and the coronavirus this fall

Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Here's Why All Of New York City Smells Like Smoke Today

Pamela Engel

San Franciscans awoke in panic as one of the worst firestorms in California history burns wine country

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