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East Coast Unprepared for Wildfires, Smoke
18 Jul
Summary
- East Coast faces repeated wildfire smoke events.
- Air quality in NYC, Chicago, Detroit rivals smoking a pack.
- Large East Coast fires increased tenfold in 40 years.
Orange skies have become a recurring, alarming sight across the East Coast in recent years, signaling a stark reality: the region is unprepared for the escalating threat of wildfires. What were once considered rare events, like severe wildfire smoke blanketing major cities, are now becoming more frequent.
New York City, Chicago, and Detroit are facing critically poor air quality, with breathing the air likened to smoking a pack of cigarettes daily. This has significant health implications, with projections of substantial increases in ER visits for asthma. Notably, more Americans now die from wildfire smoke effects east of the Mississippi than west of it.
The danger is not limited to smoke; actual fires are also increasing on the East Coast. In the last year, half of all U.S. wildfires occurred on the East Coast. The number of large fires in the East has grown tenfold in the past 40 years, with warnings that fires could soon traverse entire states in mere days.
