In one interview, Climate School PhD candidate Garima Raheja raised concerns about the city’s most vulnerable residents, including unhoused people. “The fit is the most important, so even wearing a surgical mask that fits you well can help, but a K95 or N95 mask can work better.” “The benefits are a good fitting K95 or N95 mask can remove the majority of the particulate matter, which is what is causing the haze,” he said. And if you do need to go outside, a good mask can help out a lot, Steve Chillrud, who studies air pollution at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, told local news media. Turn on an air purifier if you can, Westervelt advised. “If you’ve got a red alert for air quality, it’s probably not the time to go out and go for that jog or go for that run,” Schlegelmilch told NPR, “because you’re breathing in more air and you’re breathing in more air more deeply.” Source: NASA How can I protect myself and my loved ones?Ĭlimate School experts underlined the general advice to stay indoors with windows and doors shut if at all possible, and avoid strenuous activities. So whether it’s 350 or 355 doesn’t really matter if you have to breathe it.”Ī satellite image captures thick smoke over the eastern U.S. “But once it’s above a certain amount, it’s toxic to people. “I’m not sure there’s many things that can measure well when the numbers are this high,” she told Gothamist. Róisín Commane, a Lamont scientist who monitors air quality in NYC and beyond, cautioned that air quality readings can be unreliable at very high pollutant concentrations. He went on to say that poor air quality is bad for everyone, but it’s especially dangerous for certain groups, including those with lung and heart disease, the elderly and pregnant people. “How concerned you should be has a lot to do with your own situation,” Jeff Schlegelmilch, director of the Climate School’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness, told NPR. “So we’re really seeing just unprecedented amounts of pollution in the New York area and the mid-Atlantic in general.” “These levels are at least 10 times higher than what health guidelines mark as the healthy levels for exposure for particulate matter,” Dan Westervelt, who studies air pollution at the Climate School’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, told CNN. Below, we share some of their insights and guidance. Many reported smelling smoke, despite being thousands of miles away from the fires.Įxperts at the Columbia Climate School have been featured widely in the news, using their expertise in meteorology, air pollution, health and disaster response to help put this unusual event into context. In New York City, record-setting air pollution bathed the city in an ominous orange haze. More than 400 wildfires burning across Canada have triggered air quality alerts across a large portion of the U.S. Róisín Commane, an atmospheric chemist at Columbia Climate School’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, speaks with a Weather Channel reporter in front of a smoke-choked New York City skyline.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |