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Wildfire Smoke Chokes US: Climate Change's Grim Reality
20 Jul
Summary
- Wildfire smoke blanketed major US cities, causing poor air quality.
- Extreme weather events like heat waves and floods are happening now.
- Climate change impacts are no longer distant, but a present threat.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires has enveloped urban areas from Washington, D.C., to Boston, turning skies sepia and affecting air quality in cities like Chicago and Detroit. This extreme weather event underscores scientific warnings that climate change consequences are not distant future problems, but immediate realities.
This summer has seen a convergence of extreme weather, including record-shattering heat waves across the U.S. and Europe, and severe flash floods in Texas, some occurring as the second such event in two years. These "compound disasters" are occurring as average global temperatures climb.
Scientists like Zachary Labe of Climate Central and Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania stress that the "new abnormal" of extreme weather is a direct result of continued fossil fuel burning. While public awareness of climate change may increase, political action remains divided, posing a significant challenge to mitigating future crises.
