The sky will become less sepia-tinted as the latest batch of smoke from Canada wildfires blows away, but enough of it remains that the state is warning people who are “unusually sensitive to air pollution” to limit their outdoor activity through Wednesday evening.
“Even healthy individuals may experience mild health effects and should consider limiting strenuous or prolonged activities,” states the Department of Environmental Services in a press statement.
The haze is the result of small particles — less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter — which, when inhaled, can make their way deep into the lungs. The problem is made worse by relatively high humidity.
The smoke, which visibly changed the look of the sky starting Tuesday, is mostly the result of hundreds of wildfires burning throughout eastern and central Canada, as well as some wildfires in the northern plains region of the U.S.
New Hampshire has been fortunate so far. Well-timed rains have kept wildfire risk low or moderate for the entire summer with few outdoor blazes reported.
In Canada as of Wednesday morning, the National Wildland Fire Summary said 112 fires were burning “out of control” while 76 more are in various levels of control. So far this year, almost 3,500 wildfires have burned 4.7 million acres.
As alarming as that sounds, it is actually pretty good by recent standards: The average over the past five years is for twice as many acres to have burned in Canada by mid-July. That doesn’t make our skies any less smoky, however.
It also doesn’t hide the fact that things have been getting worse for a past quarter century as climate change has increased average temperatures, drying out forests and increasing storms that can produce lightning. The Canadian government says average acreage burned in that country each summer has roughly doubled over the past 25 years.
In other words, smoky skies that are hazardous to our health is now part of summertime in New Hampshire.
