After three days of dealing with smoky, particulate-filled air, many Philadelphians went outside Sunday to enjoy the sunshine, gentle winds, and relatively clear horizons.
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But hundreds of miles northwest in Ontario, wildfires continued to burn, posing a life-threatening emergency to some Canadians and leaving much of the U.S. susceptible to more rounds of smoke.
Experts say the ongoing wildfires will threaten air quality in the region, while the longer dry seasons, droughts, and high winds associated with climate change mean that such fires — and the smoke they send downwind — may become more common.
“I think we are headed into an era where we are likely to see more periods of air pollution from wildfire smoke reaching the East,” said Erica Smithwick, a Penn State geology professor. “We are not immune to these dangers anymore, and we’re going to have to learn to live with them.”
Walking along the Schuylkill River Sunday morning, Dion Carmichael was coming to terms with this.
“You can tell everyone feels excited to be here today,” said Carmichael. The 29-year-old said her Fairmount neighborhood felt a bit “like a ghost town” the past few days as people stayed inside.
She and her partner had to cancel a camping trip in New York, Carmichael said. She said it’s had her thinking about “the future of our planet.”
“Global warming is a big factor in this. We should take care of our planet,” Carmichael said.
Her partner, Canice Okereke, noted that he could still smell faint wood smoke in the air. That didn’t worry him personally. But it remains a threat for some of the people with health issues he helps in his job managing in-home care services for seniors. The past few days, simple tasks like walking to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription became a challenge for those with respiratory issues.
Sean Conway just finished leading a three-mile group run. The 26-year-old personal trainer said he never thought about wildfire smoke or air quality until Thursday, when one of his running partners told him he was better off staying indoors. He begrudgingly took to the treadmill, and then admitted his friend was right.
“If you’re running for your health, why would you run in smoke? It’s like smoking a cigarette,” Conway said.
In the short term, the worst of the wildfire smoke has passed, said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Bill Deger. But sensitive groups such as children and those with respiratory issues could still be affected, he said.
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Sunday’s moderately clean air is the result of a cold front from eastern Canada, he said. “Now we will have shifting wind directions over the next couple days. If the wind comes out of the west, we can have more of an uptick in that smoke, though I don’t expect it to be as bad as it was,” Deger said.
As for weather, temperatures will drop into the 60s in Philly and into the 50s in the suburbs Monday night, giving air conditioners a break, he said. Higher humidity and “heavy, gusty thunderstorms” are forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Hazy skies certainly look like a possibility, but as far as that ground level pollution is concerned, it should not be as bad,” Degers said, adding that it is difficult to predict air quality beyond two or three days out.
Smithwick said broader trends make more fires likely. High winds, droughts, and long dry seasons are all on the rise due to climate change. She noted, in addition to Ontario, wildfires are burning in Minnesota.
“In the East, you don’t need large periods of drying to have wildfire conditions — two weeks or less. And when it happens upon an extended period of drought, those create the conditions for the wildfires,” Smithwick said.
Canada and the Midwest have seen extensive fires before, Smithwick said, “but not at the frequency and scale that we’re seeing now.”
This increase brings both ecological peril and human health risks, she said. These risks are often worse for disadvantaged communities where people may lack things like air conditioners and indoor air purifiers.
In addition, some of the needed changes must occur on a larger scale, Smithwick said. One example: she said schools should be fitted with air monitors and purifiers.
Smithwick encouraged people to monitor air quality indoors and outdoors, follow guidelines, stay indoors when needed, and stay cool.
“Adjusting your behaviors to meet the moment can be difficult, but finding alternative activities can work.”
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