(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

OPINION

My sister lives in a picturesque small town - Waynesville, N.C. - a stone’s throw from the Great Smoky Mountains, the most popular national park in the United States. More than 13 million people visit the 816-square-mile park every year.

The mountains there are among the oldest in the world, nearly 300 million years give or take a few millennia. Peaks that once soared nearly 20,000 feet above sea level have worn over the ages to just 4,000 feet to 6,000 feet.

The Great Smoky Mountains got their name from the volatile organic compounds given off by the millions of plants and trees in the national park, creating a more or less ever-present light blue-coloured fog. That might be changing because just a few weeks ago a new kind of smoke covered these mountains and valleys, wildfire smoke from Eastern Canada.

The Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, USA.

Image Credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/Aviator31

It was not the first time smoke from fires in Canada made its way to the Great Smoky Mountains…just two years ago smoke from wildfires in British Columbia blanketed the area in a yellow-brownish haze.

Welcome to the new normal. Wildfires - in Canada and the U.S. - are more frequent, generally getting bigger…and are affecting people three or four time zones away. Wildfires occur every year across North America, but as a kid growing up in Florida they were foreign, indigenous to the the western regions of the U.S. and Canada where blazes tended to be larger and burned more acreage.

But climate change - among its other adverse effects - means few people in North America are immune from poisonous air quality, a growing health hazard for tens of millions of us.

Higher temperatures and drought are making wildfire season more than one season. Just ten years ago, wildfires in B.C. were most likely in July and August. Now, we see more and bigger fires in May and June and stretching into September.

Smoke from wildfires is a noxious blend of particulate matter, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and a variety of organic gases, including volatile organic compounds, among other substances.

Particulate matter - bits of airborne liquids and solids like dust and soot - is classified according to size. Air quality ratings in the U.S. and Canada rely on measurements of the smallest particulate…PM2.5.

You can check the ratings for both nations at airnow.gov, which also maps fire and smoke plumes. Also, you can track active fires in Canada on the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre's website ciffc.ca.

Despite the fact that wildfire smoke occurs naturally, and wildfires are a necessary event, it doesn’t mean the air is safe to breathe. Far from it. The components of wildfire smoke are linked to respiratory disease, sinus infections, cancer, low birth weight, preterm birth, cognitive impairment and blood poisoning, among other serious health issues.

The smallest particulate - PM2.5 pollution - is the largest component in wildfire smoke and can be inhaled deeply into the lungs and even reach the bloodstream. Another increasing concern of wildfires - burning buildings - adds even more toxic elements to the air we breathe - plastics, paints, electronic components, insulation, to name a few. In the 2018 California wildfires, 19,000 homes were burned in addition to millions of trees and plants.

A healthy person who breathes in smoke from wildfires might suffer from stinging eyes, and when they cough, they may have trouble recovering their breath. But there’s not enough history to know what happens to that person when they breathe smoky air over long periods every year.

In my lifetime, we’ve gone from breathing smoke once or twice a decade to breathing smoke every Summer, for several weeks. Breathing smoke from wildfires lowers the immune system, according to recent studies, resulting in three- to five-fold increases in viruses and flu among those affected.

So, what can we do? Unfortunately, not as much as medical professionals would like. Stay inside as much as possible. A good HVAC system can help purify air inside a home, and portable air purifiers can help clean a single room. And while most masks don’t help much, N95 masks that fit tightly on the face are good defences for healthy and not-so-healthy folks.

Of course, we also must suffer those who insist - despite overwhelming evidence and facts to the contrary - fires are no bigger problem today than anytime in history. These folks often decry wearing N95 masks, as well. Climate change and its various associated issues are tough enough without dealing with ignorance, but it appears as often as the wildfires.

Who knew that we would - in addition to checking flight and hotel prices for Summer vacations - keep tabs on air quality before heading to the great outdoors. Again, it’s the new normal.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

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