Canada and Hawaii’s Fight with Wildfires
Canadian wildfire smoke casting over the New York City skyline back in June. Credit: Ahmer Kalam via Unsplash
Record-breaking wildfires have swept across North America this summer, with blazes in Canada and the catastrophic fire in Maui, Hawaii sparking concerns about the future of climate change.
At the beginning of June, the Quebec area of Canada experienced some of the worst wildfires the country has seen. The wildfire smoke from this devastation crept into the Northeast of the United States and gave New York City the worst air quality in the world for a few days.
The Guardian reported that researchers from Stanford University in California found that on July 7, the average American was exposed to 27.5 micrograms per cubic meter of small particulate matter that was carried within the smoke. The wildfire smoke contained PM2.5, burned debris that includes soot and dust, which can be buried deep in the lungs when inhaled. A variety of health conditions can arise from this.
The air in heavily affected areas was five times above the national air quality standard with the particulate matter breaching 195 micrograms.
The second wave of Canadian wildfire smoke arrived in the U.S. in July but impacted a wider range of the country. States like Ohio, North Carolina and Nebraska, among many more, had to issue moderate to very unhealthy air quality alerts.
Now, the west coast of Canada is experiencing raging wildfires in the regions of British Columbia and Kelowna. More than 35,000 residents were under an evacuation order by Aug. 19 with another 30,000 under evacuation alert, as reported by Reuters.
It has been estimated that 54,054 square miles, around the size of New York State, has been affected by these fires nationwide throughout Canada. Four firefighters have died while on duty to fight this ferocious blaze. In addition to the Canadian federal government’s assistance, 13 other countries have been lending support to crack down on these fires.
Out in the Pacific, high winds disrupting power lines sparked a massive fire in Maui – one of the deadliest fires the U.S. has seen in more than 100 years. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has claimed that the Maui wildfires have surpassed the 2018 California fires.
Areas of the island like Lahaina have been hit the hardest. According to CNN, the fires around the Lahaina area have destroyed or damaged over 2,000 structures with about 86 percent of them being residential, as of Aug. 14.
Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green has pledged to those who have lost their homes 36 weeks of housing. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has encouraged evacuees to apply for FEMA disaster assistance with 3,000 people already registered. Checks of $700 are available for registered evacuees to help with the costs of medical supplies, food, and water.
As of Aug. 19, around 85 percent of the affected areas have been searched and the death toll remains at 115 from Aug. 22.
“This is the largest natural disaster we’ve ever experienced. It’s going to also be a natural disaster that’s going to take an incredible amount of time to recover from.” Green said in a news conference on Aug. 12.