Western California, Oregon and Washington wildfires have the worst air pollution on earth. California wildfires have passed a record 3 million acres, or 4,700 square miles. There are over 100 fires burning.
CNN Calfire fire locations. There have been 20 fatalities in California. 6,400 structures have been damaged or destroyed. The largest two fires are the SCU Lightening Complex at 397,000 acres or 620 square miles, and the LNU Lightening Complex at 363,000 acres or 567 square miles. August had the hottest average temperature on record.
Southern California air pollution. Over 150 million trees have died in the the Southern Sierra, probably because of climate change and the pine bark beetle. Haze has been blocking direct sunlight. Warnings about exercising outside. The Southern Sierra is in Moderate Drought.
The PurpleAir.com measures PM2.5 or 2.5 micron sized air pollution, which can go through the lungs into the blood stream. In the color scale, the maroon of 200-300 is Unhealthy for All, and beyond 300 is Hazardous.
Northern California Air Pollution. There are many pictures of Orange skies in the Press. There are a hundred years of undergrowth. Northern California is in severe drought, and the central North near Oregon is in extreme drought.
Oregon Air Pollution. A half of a million people are in evacuation zones. This is over 10% of the state population of 4.2 million. 40,000 have evacuated. A million acres (1,560 square miles) have burned there, just in the last three days. 5 are dead there, but they are expecting more since some occupied areas were overrun by fire.
Washington State and Vancouver, B.C. Air Pollution:
5 out of the top 8 world pollution cities are on the West Coast, including the top three, Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco.
The smoke goes far off-shore, and may blow back in this weekend.
Firefighters and fire equipment being used in California.
Smog Predictions for my weekend in Irvine.
