Wisckol, Martin. (2021, March 17) “Wildfires Made California Air Quality among Worst in the World, Even during Pandemic.” The Mercury News, The Mercury News. Retrieved August 16, 2021 from www.mercurynews.com/2021/03/17/wildfires-made-california-air-quality-among-worst-in-the-world-even-during-pandemic/
The wildfires across California have officially made our air quality one of the worst in the world. As Southern California ranked amongst the most polluted cities in the world, the wildfires did not make it any better. Our world saw an improvement in air quality due to the factories being shut down, and although the same happened in California, we have had wildfires across our state like no other. Even though California has some of the strictest pollution laws, there is not much you can do about the already present climate change causing wildfire all over California.
This article shuts down some of the previous claims I have read about surrounding our air getting better since Covid-19. Even though we saw some improvements in our air quality, wildfire will only continue to happen and even possibly at even higher rates. This evokes fear in myself and others that states like California are unsaveable. I hear everyday that “climate change is becoming irreversible” and we are running out of time, but I believe that we have already run out of time and it is far too late. Wildfires are going to become much more common, and although we can shut down our factories and power plants, we cannot shut down nature. We have affected our environment and atmosphere to a point where there is no turning back. I fear for what California will look like in a decade.
This is really shocking to me. The fact that the wildfires have impacted the air quality even heavier than some villages in third world countries that have such high emissions and are in such close proximity to industrial developments that one could hardly go outside without gagging for fresh air. I guess that shows that the actual air quality and the amount of microscopic particles isn’t directly correlated to how “easy” it is to breathe the air. On discrepancy I had was regarding the reversibility of climate change. As long as the effects aren’t climbing at such an exponential rate as they were, don’t you agree that with some time, a solution will present itself and things will get better?
I completely agree with your thoughts and fears regarding the global warming crises. I feel that it is too late to save the Earth and restore it to what it once was, as all our efforts thus far have failed and things continue to get worse. How do you think we can adapt to our changing environment, or do you think we will not be able to adapt at all?