Hello August - er May...

 

I had forgotten that the USA and Canada use a different numbering system for things like pollution.  Since most of my readers are USians, I'm using the US scale for these posts.

The smoke situation is somewhat better today, although it still isn't great.  More yellow, less red. The Weather Network has been giving out weather quality alerts for most of the province for about two weeks now, warning how dangerous prolonged exposure to wildfire smoke is for our lungs (and presumably animals, but they don't have access to masks, so...)

Since I've not stopped wearing a mask against covid, it was a no-brainer for me to wear one against the smoke.  

I had several trips to town this week, and I was consistently the only person I saw wearing a mask. While I heard lots of complaints about smoke, no one seemed aware of the fact that if they just grabbed one of their N95s they would be protected against both.  Even if it wasn't a good fit, less smoke (or covid) in your lungs is less smoke (or covid) in your lungs.

Andrew Kurjata gave some space in his Northern Newsletter to the UNBC prof about baseline assumptions this morning, and yeah, pretty soon this new 'normal' is going to be just that - accepted as 'normal' - and no mitigations or efforts to stop climate change will be taken because human beings are so incredibly adaptable we will just let the vulnerable go ahead and die already.  Darwinism at its finest?

Since I am one of those 'vulnerable' I can't say I'm best pleased to be tossed into the climate change soup of continuing plagues and climate change and told to sink or swim.  Knowing full well that for me, sink is the end game.  Literally.

Prof. Huber warns that if we accept that this 'new normal' is just the way it is, that it is inevitable, and we make no further effort to stop climate change we are in for a bumpy ride.  (I paraphrase.)

Thing is, I was told there would be hand baskets.

I see no hand baskets.  

Just more of (waves hands) this...↑

If it is like this in May, I shudder to think what it will be like come August.  So far *we* are in no direct danger of wildfires.  But we have 3 more months of summer.  Things could change, and not for the better.

Time to make choices.