Smoke Season
August 20, 2018 5:57 PM Subscribe
The Pacific Northwest is blanketed in smoke. Again. Topping even 2017's historically bad fire season, the past week has seen air quality at the worst levels ever recorded in the Puget Sound region. Conditions are currently unhealthy to very unhealthy in much of British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, and will likely remain poor at least until Wednesday.
Andrew Kurjata: When I woke up this week, the sun was blocked out by smoke:
Andrew Kurjata: When I woke up this week, the sun was blocked out by smoke:
What does it mean if this is the new normal? It means that for kids growing up today, summer isn’t just trips to the lake or long nights playing outside. It’s also days on end of being forced indoors as hundreds of evacuees come into your city, pushed out of their own homes by flames— or, worse, being among those pushed away, wondering when or if you’ll be able to return. That’s if things don’t get worse.Breathing wildfire smoke can have long-term health effects. Public health agencies recommend staying indoors and using HEPA filtration systems. A furnace filter taped to a box fan can serve as a cheap but functional air purifier.
It's just nasty out there. I was going to take my dog out to the park and decided the air wasn't fit for man or beast.
posted by Xoc at 6:10 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Xoc at 6:10 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's kinda spooky. I went down to a cafe in Capitol Hill to sit and work on the comics and the streets are... not empty, but there's like maybe 10% of the normal traffic.
posted by egypturnash at 6:13 PM on August 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by egypturnash at 6:13 PM on August 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
This is only the second year of this right? It feels like the apocalypse out there and I think it’s affecting everyone’s psyche at least as much as their breathing. I’m trying to hold on desperately to the idea that this is just a couple bad years and not a trend.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:15 PM on August 20, 2018 [25 favorites]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:15 PM on August 20, 2018 [25 favorites]
The air is the color of stale breakfast cereal.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 6:16 PM on August 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 6:16 PM on August 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
The light looks like it's filtered through a glass of stale urine.
posted by The otter lady at 6:17 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by The otter lady at 6:17 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
It’s pretty damn unpleasant. I am lucky enough to work in a building with decent air purifiers, but the half hour commute home left me coughing and mouth feeling dry.
posted by fencerjimmy at 6:18 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by fencerjimmy at 6:18 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm so glad I have a short commute. I'm very sad my wife commutes downtown via max right now. I'm worried about her. We need to get something better than a flu mask for her, but I'm making her take at least that tomorrow.
posted by Caduceus at 6:21 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Caduceus at 6:21 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
The World Is on Fire. Are You Depressed?
posted by PhineasGage at 6:21 PM on August 20, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by PhineasGage at 6:21 PM on August 20, 2018 [13 favorites]
This is only the second year of this right? It feels like the apocalypse out there and I think it’s affecting everyone’s psyche at least as much as their breathing. I’m trying to hold on desperately to the idea that this is just a couple bad years and not a trend.
Listen, the politics thread is down a few links.
posted by curious nu at 6:25 PM on August 20, 2018 [26 favorites]
Listen, the politics thread is down a few links.
posted by curious nu at 6:25 PM on August 20, 2018 [26 favorites]
(I am also hoping this isn't a trend. PNW is the only place in the world I want to live, and I bike and/or run daily as my primary mental health mechanism. This shit is going to literally kill me)
posted by curious nu at 6:27 PM on August 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by curious nu at 6:27 PM on August 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
It was so so awful yesterday and today. Levels in the hazardous range. I had to wear a mask to go outside, and I had to tape up the fireplace because the smoke stink was filling the living room. I hate it.
posted by ilovewinter at 6:29 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ilovewinter at 6:29 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
99% Invisible did an episode on how to combat wildfires (Built to Burn, #317) and it offered lots of surprising insights and actual solutions. Major takeaway: in many cases you don't need to fight the actual fire but should focus on establishing a 100 feet perimeter around homes so that they don't catch fire because of embers, the real assholes of wildfires.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:32 PM on August 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:32 PM on August 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
I was looking at the Mendocino complex yesterday, thinking about how it's the largest in California (recorded/modern) history. I looked up the fires in British Columbia... the largest is about twice the size of the Mendocino complex. The only (limited) comfort is that it's a vastly less populated area, but still. There's an active fire in BC that's HALF A MILLION ACRES in size.
US Wildfire Activity Map
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System Interactive Map (currently appears down but was working earlier)
posted by tclark at 6:34 PM on August 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
US Wildfire Activity Map
Canadian Wildland Fire Information System Interactive Map (currently appears down but was working earlier)
posted by tclark at 6:34 PM on August 20, 2018 [10 favorites]
The BC fires are scary. I live on the other side of the Rockies, but when we were getting their smoke it was like armageddon. One day last week I woke up and the sky was dark orange, that only slowly faded to yellow. Sunrise was over an hour late.
posted by Kevin Street at 6:46 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by Kevin Street at 6:46 PM on August 20, 2018
My eyes are burning here, but there are areas not all that far away that are way worse. I am wishing I had a good filter system, but if I order one, by the time it arrives the smoke will likely have shifted again.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:48 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by Dip Flash at 6:48 PM on August 20, 2018
I haven't been restricting my kids to the indoors, but they keep coming back in. Outdoor time is so important to them and school starts next week ...
posted by stowaway at 6:49 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by stowaway at 6:49 PM on August 20, 2018
Remember the 2010 Russian wildfires?
posted by cenoxo at 6:50 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
The 2010 Russian wildfires were several hundred wildfires that broke out across Russia, primarily in the west in summer 2010. They started burning in late July and lasted until early September 2010. The fires were associated with record-high temperatures, which were attributed to climate change[4]—the summer had been the hottest recorded in Russian history[5]—and drought.[6]Wildfires know no borders.
...
A combination of the smoke from the fires, producing heavy smog blanketing large urban regions and the record-breaking heat wave put stress on the Russian healthcare system. Munich Re estimated that in all, 56,000 people died from the effects of the smog and the heat wave.[8] The 2010 wildfires were the worst on record to that time.
posted by cenoxo at 6:50 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm slightly relieved, though, I thought I had discovered my superpower, which unfortunately turned out to be projecting my mood out into the world.
posted by maxwelton at 6:51 PM on August 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 6:51 PM on August 20, 2018 [6 favorites]
We need to get something better than a flu mask for her
Protect Your Lungs From Wildfire Smoke - "Wearing a special mask called a “particulate respirator” can also help protect your lungs from wildfire smoke. Choose a mask called a “ particulate respirator” that has the word “NIOSH” and either “N95” or “P100” printed on it."
posted by the man of twists and turns at 6:59 PM on August 20, 2018 [12 favorites]
Protect Your Lungs From Wildfire Smoke - "Wearing a special mask called a “particulate respirator” can also help protect your lungs from wildfire smoke. Choose a mask called a “ particulate respirator” that has the word “NIOSH” and either “N95” or “P100” printed on it."
posted by the man of twists and turns at 6:59 PM on August 20, 2018 [12 favorites]
I'm originally from the Seattle area and all my family and many of my friends are back there. My FB feed is full of selfies in face masks. They're calling this month Smogust.
posted by Jacqueline at 7:07 PM on August 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
posted by Jacqueline at 7:07 PM on August 20, 2018 [9 favorites]
I was at a camp near Pinecrest Lake the week before last and we had a couple of very smoky days thanks to backfires set to fight the Ferguson Fire. My spouse had happened to go to the earthquake supply store and got some N95 masks. We wore them on the worst day - they are weird to wear at first, but they do work, and you can feel the difference when you remove it. I even managed to take a nap while wearing one.
posted by mogget at 7:17 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mogget at 7:17 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I am wishing I had a good filter system, but if I order one, by the time it arrives the smoke will likely have shifted again.
Swing by the nearest hardware store. A box fan with a taped on filter makes a world of difference. Last summer, when smoke season started, there were warnings telling people to stay inside and I was baffled at first. How was the air inside any different from outside? After all, it was hot, so we had all the windows open every morning and night. Then we rigged up the purifying fan and suddenly our air inside was good to breathe. We've got two running this summer and we haven't been trying to cool down the house. We got AC units for the bedrooms, so we can sleep even with a hot house (or for the worst heat waves) which is not a thing I ever thought we'd need in Seattle. We never used to.
I'll admit I've been keeping my daughter inside on a lot of these smoky days. Saturday was almost good and when I let her know it was as good as it was going to get for awhile, she zipped outside.
Last week the sun was hot pink. I've never seen that before.
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:18 PM on August 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
Swing by the nearest hardware store. A box fan with a taped on filter makes a world of difference. Last summer, when smoke season started, there were warnings telling people to stay inside and I was baffled at first. How was the air inside any different from outside? After all, it was hot, so we had all the windows open every morning and night. Then we rigged up the purifying fan and suddenly our air inside was good to breathe. We've got two running this summer and we haven't been trying to cool down the house. We got AC units for the bedrooms, so we can sleep even with a hot house (or for the worst heat waves) which is not a thing I ever thought we'd need in Seattle. We never used to.
I'll admit I've been keeping my daughter inside on a lot of these smoky days. Saturday was almost good and when I let her know it was as good as it was going to get for awhile, she zipped outside.
Last week the sun was hot pink. I've never seen that before.
posted by Margalo Epps at 7:18 PM on August 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
focus on establishing a 100 feet perimeter around homes so that they don't catch fire because of embers, the real assholes of wildfires.
YES GOD DO THIS because let me tell you it is harrowing beyond anything you can fucking imagine to have to do this when an actual fire is approaching your home from the other end of the valley
posted by poffin boffin at 7:28 PM on August 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
YES GOD DO THIS because let me tell you it is harrowing beyond anything you can fucking imagine to have to do this when an actual fire is approaching your home from the other end of the valley
posted by poffin boffin at 7:28 PM on August 20, 2018 [8 favorites]
I was in the Wenatchee area last week for work. I'd heard about the wildfires and the smoke, but I don't think anything prepared me for seeing it in person. Hay fields turned to soot and ash snowing down at the gas station.
Please keep safe, y'all.
posted by Lykosidae at 7:34 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Please keep safe, y'all.
posted by Lykosidae at 7:34 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
God, the rainy season can’t come soon enough! (I’m secretly hoping the skies will clear at least long enough for me to make good on next month’s reservation at Lost Lake, but I’m not confident. My plans for a summer full of weekend camping trips have so far been a huge bust😡)
posted by Atom Eyes at 7:40 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Atom Eyes at 7:40 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
According to Seattle Met, Seattle had the worst air quality of any major city in the world for a while today.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 7:40 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by vibratory manner of working at 7:40 PM on August 20, 2018
Third or fourth year if you count me hosting unscheduled wildfire refugees. Fucking blows. Buncha filters inbound; my dog is bummed about no walk today (or likely for a few more days). I have errands and tickets to the Astros-M'a game tomorrow. I am not convinced I will use the tix. TBH, I am surprised they did not call the game tonight.
posted by mwhybark at 7:53 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 7:53 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh and my cousin in Spokane was reporting air conditions there twice as bad as we are experiencing in the Sound. I have not yet been able to substantiate that via monitoring info, but her pictures appeared to show something like a 60% fade filter as applied to a photograph.
posted by mwhybark at 7:56 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by mwhybark at 7:56 PM on August 20, 2018
I'm not noticing it too much in my place in Seattle just yet, but I also stayed indoors all day and just worked at my computer, so I wasn't, like, exerting myself. The sky is weird and pinkish and unsettling, though, and I'm bummed I can't do much activity. I did a long hike on Saturday, at least, and I'll go out again as soon as the air clears a bit. It's incredibly eerie and awful, and I'm not even worried about fire...
posted by kalimac at 8:03 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by kalimac at 8:03 PM on August 20, 2018
The east and west coast need a precipitation exchange program.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:09 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:09 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Thoughts, best wishes, and hope for rain from Australia. We all know the horror of monstrous fire season too well down here.
posted by other barry at 8:10 PM on August 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by other barry at 8:10 PM on August 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
"Smokepocalypse," by way of transumutativity from "Snowpocalypse".
"Smogust" is pretty good by way of "Juneuary," when we get 30-degree temps in June.
posted by mwhybark at 8:11 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
"Smogust" is pretty good by way of "Juneuary," when we get 30-degree temps in June.
posted by mwhybark at 8:11 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
It is frustrating because wild land fire science says LET IT BURN, and we should. Wild land fire suppression means more catastrophic, less manageable fires in the future, but at the same time, its miserable when you can't go outside and breath. But I'd rather stay inside and huff and puff for a few weeks or months and hope the wind changes than hope the wind changes so my entire town doesn't burn.
posted by Grandysaur at 8:17 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Grandysaur at 8:17 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Gonna have to snag a photo of the blood sun from the top of Mt. Hood. On the way up we saw it over the smokey Freescale and it was impressively apocalyptic.
Down below everything has disappeared into the smoke haze. There’s no level where you get above it.
Maybe mistimed this holiday. Maybe if we do it next year we’ll manage to book it before or after smoke season.
posted by Artw at 8:21 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Down below everything has disappeared into the smoke haze. There’s no level where you get above it.
Maybe mistimed this holiday. Maybe if we do it next year we’ll manage to book it before or after smoke season.
posted by Artw at 8:21 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
Asia Fields (Seattle Times): Don't panic. “Most healthy people can go about normal activities,” [lung care physician Cora Sack] said.
KING5 News: Don't wipe wildfire ash off your car.
Also KING5 News: Don't vacuum your carpet.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:22 PM on August 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
KING5 News: Don't wipe wildfire ash off your car.
Also KING5 News: Don't vacuum your carpet.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:22 PM on August 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I was driving back east over the past week and it was down right apocalyptic. We had a friggin' industrial-revolution era smog over the sky from Kamloops all the way to the Ontario border. When we went through Alberta I couldn't see the mountains.
So, um. Nice planet we had, guys! Shame about how it all turned out.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 8:29 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
So, um. Nice planet we had, guys! Shame about how it all turned out.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 8:29 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
It is frustrating because wild land fire science says LET IT BURN, and we should. Wild land fire suppression means more catastrophic, less manageable fires in the future
Unfortunately, it turns out to not be quite that simple, because of course it isn't. I was just reading a pretty vigorous debate on an Australian hiking site about deliberately lit fuel-reduction burns. I've always believed that we should deliberately light burns often and early, to reduce the risk of large catastrophic fires. This is a long-held Australian belief about fire management, that goes back to some probably over-sold research claiming that some Aboriginal groups managed the land this way. And we do a BUNCH of deliberate burning. The fire services are out there with flamethrowers lighting up bits of bush whenever conditions allow them to get away with it.
(Not a bad career for someone with pyromaniac tendencies...and the more cynical suggest that's exactly what happens. A lot of fires have turned out to have been actually started by firefighters, either because they do like fire a bit too much, or because they wanted an opportunity to be heroic)
But there is pretty strong counter-argument it turns out. Research suggests that the fuel load reaches an equilibrium after a while, and that efforts to reduce ignition have a greater effect on reducing the overall area burned.
posted by other barry at 8:35 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Unfortunately, it turns out to not be quite that simple, because of course it isn't. I was just reading a pretty vigorous debate on an Australian hiking site about deliberately lit fuel-reduction burns. I've always believed that we should deliberately light burns often and early, to reduce the risk of large catastrophic fires. This is a long-held Australian belief about fire management, that goes back to some probably over-sold research claiming that some Aboriginal groups managed the land this way. And we do a BUNCH of deliberate burning. The fire services are out there with flamethrowers lighting up bits of bush whenever conditions allow them to get away with it.
(Not a bad career for someone with pyromaniac tendencies...and the more cynical suggest that's exactly what happens. A lot of fires have turned out to have been actually started by firefighters, either because they do like fire a bit too much, or because they wanted an opportunity to be heroic)
But there is pretty strong counter-argument it turns out. Research suggests that the fuel load reaches an equilibrium after a while, and that efforts to reduce ignition have a greater effect on reducing the overall area burned.
posted by other barry at 8:35 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also, I'm pretty much in the market for a pair of Frank Booth pump-and-filter masks that I can ideally use to blow filtered air over my mouth parts but also optionally add, you know, oxygen, or pleasing scents. Amazon and ebay seem sketchy in this consumer good stream, please advise
posted by mwhybark at 8:35 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 8:35 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
We’re all going to end up with strap on respirators like Immortan Joe’s big kid.
posted by Artw at 8:38 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 8:38 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
Is there a handy ebay merchant, or one on FB marketplace?
posted by mwhybark at 8:42 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by mwhybark at 8:42 PM on August 20, 2018
I am watching the Mariners game on TV and people are yelling and chanting as if they aren't gonna die from this, I mean really
posted by mwhybark at 8:43 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by mwhybark at 8:43 PM on August 20, 2018
also, Art, stop making me larf, I'm focusing on shallow brefs, minimal atmospheric exchange
posted by mwhybark at 8:44 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by mwhybark at 8:44 PM on August 20, 2018
It is, no hyperbole, raining fine ash here in Redmond, just east of Seattle proper.
posted by bz at 8:49 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by bz at 8:49 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
I sorta joked that now instead of Karl the Fog, Portland has Windy the Plume.
I do not care for the new normal. Nope, I don't like it.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:49 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
I do not care for the new normal. Nope, I don't like it.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 8:49 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
[dons fire ecologist and smoke pollution epidemiologist hat]
Research suggests that the fuel load reaches an equilibrium after a while, and that efforts to reduce ignition have a greater effect on reducing the overall area burned.
Fuel does reach an equilibrium, there is a curve, and for Australian forests (and this is typical of most fire-prone temperate forests worldwide) the equilibrium is reached somewhere between 10 to 30 years after the fire, depending on the forest type. But you don't really want to maintain that equilibrium fuel load, because that is the maximum fuel load, that will produce the most severe fires. It's not a case of leave it alone and the fuel will reach equilibrium, it's a case of leave it alone and the fuel will reach a maximum.
But it's true prescribed burning isn't everything - we have a concept called "leverage" - which is essentially, how many hectares do you have to prescribe-burn in order to prevent one hectare of wildfire? This is variable between systems, obviously, but again a typical number for Australian Eucalyptus forests is three. On average, you need to do three hectares of prescribed burning to prevent one hectare of wildfire.
So the next question is - how much smoke do prescribed burns produce compared to wildfires, if we have to do so much burning to combat wildfires? What is the trade-off? Prescribed burns burn less fuel, and make less smoke...but the smoke tends to hang around and have local impacts. Wildfires produce more smoke in total, but that smoke is often lifted high into the atmosphere where it can just blow away... to come down on some other more distant population, even on another continent.
There are no easy answers, and in both North America and Australia we are grappling with the issues of how the land was managed by indigenous peoples, the fact that many vegetation types require fire to maintain their ecological function and biodiversity. There are alternatives to prescribed burning; manual vegetation thinning, implementation of wide (and ecologically functional) firebreaks around communities. Controlling ignitions are extremely difficult - there is much can be done, but then you have issues like we had in Tasmania a few years back, where in a single afternoon we had 90 lightning strike lit fires startup from one storm. Nature's going to do it's thing, and climate change is going to make it worse.
Anyway here's an Open Access paper we've just published on prescribed burning and smoke pollution in British Columbia and Tasmania.
posted by Jimbob at 8:53 PM on August 20, 2018 [55 favorites]
Research suggests that the fuel load reaches an equilibrium after a while, and that efforts to reduce ignition have a greater effect on reducing the overall area burned.
Fuel does reach an equilibrium, there is a curve, and for Australian forests (and this is typical of most fire-prone temperate forests worldwide) the equilibrium is reached somewhere between 10 to 30 years after the fire, depending on the forest type. But you don't really want to maintain that equilibrium fuel load, because that is the maximum fuel load, that will produce the most severe fires. It's not a case of leave it alone and the fuel will reach equilibrium, it's a case of leave it alone and the fuel will reach a maximum.
But it's true prescribed burning isn't everything - we have a concept called "leverage" - which is essentially, how many hectares do you have to prescribe-burn in order to prevent one hectare of wildfire? This is variable between systems, obviously, but again a typical number for Australian Eucalyptus forests is three. On average, you need to do three hectares of prescribed burning to prevent one hectare of wildfire.
So the next question is - how much smoke do prescribed burns produce compared to wildfires, if we have to do so much burning to combat wildfires? What is the trade-off? Prescribed burns burn less fuel, and make less smoke...but the smoke tends to hang around and have local impacts. Wildfires produce more smoke in total, but that smoke is often lifted high into the atmosphere where it can just blow away... to come down on some other more distant population, even on another continent.
There are no easy answers, and in both North America and Australia we are grappling with the issues of how the land was managed by indigenous peoples, the fact that many vegetation types require fire to maintain their ecological function and biodiversity. There are alternatives to prescribed burning; manual vegetation thinning, implementation of wide (and ecologically functional) firebreaks around communities. Controlling ignitions are extremely difficult - there is much can be done, but then you have issues like we had in Tasmania a few years back, where in a single afternoon we had 90 lightning strike lit fires startup from one storm. Nature's going to do it's thing, and climate change is going to make it worse.
Anyway here's an Open Access paper we've just published on prescribed burning and smoke pollution in British Columbia and Tasmania.
posted by Jimbob at 8:53 PM on August 20, 2018 [55 favorites]
So I live a mere 100 km away from the worst British Columbia fires, in one of the few towns around here not actually on fire or on evacuation alert. It looks like midnight at 9 am. It has been like this the last few years in the summers and is only getting worse. Eyes burning, can't breathe.
I went out to walk the dog with a bandana tied around my face and met a woman on a similar mission. We commiserated and she said to me, "Seeing the sky like this makes me want to cry." I knew what she meant. It's psychologically distressing for everyone here, obviously much more so for people whose towns are actually on fire. The oppressive blanket of smoke over the rest of the province is enough of a reminder that nature is powerful and we have altered our climate in ways that are now coming home to roost for us, for the foreseeable future.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:02 PM on August 20, 2018 [27 favorites]
I went out to walk the dog with a bandana tied around my face and met a woman on a similar mission. We commiserated and she said to me, "Seeing the sky like this makes me want to cry." I knew what she meant. It's psychologically distressing for everyone here, obviously much more so for people whose towns are actually on fire. The oppressive blanket of smoke over the rest of the province is enough of a reminder that nature is powerful and we have altered our climate in ways that are now coming home to roost for us, for the foreseeable future.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:02 PM on August 20, 2018 [27 favorites]
(I should note, for completeness- there are some systems, generally wetter forests, where there maximum fire risk time comes before the maximum fuel load time - because an open, sparser canopy allows a warmer, drier microclimate within the forest.)
posted by Jimbob at 9:02 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by Jimbob at 9:02 PM on August 20, 2018
My MIL, who used to live in Southern Oregon, and has had some lung damage from some funky fungal infection, has had to essentially move to Portland, as she has had to flee the Rogue Valley for like the last seven years due to smoke.
And now it sounds like Even Portland is getting hit hard.
And we thought last year was bad...
posted by Windopaene at 9:07 PM on August 20, 2018
And now it sounds like Even Portland is getting hit hard.
And we thought last year was bad...
posted by Windopaene at 9:07 PM on August 20, 2018
Greetings from Kimberley BC where we're on evacuation alert. It's extremely depressing.
posted by elke_wood at 9:12 PM on August 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by elke_wood at 9:12 PM on August 20, 2018 [4 favorites]
I live in Portland and was just outside briefly to take out some recycling.
The moon is orange, like it's in the midst of an eclipse. Red-orange.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:14 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
The moon is orange, like it's in the midst of an eclipse. Red-orange.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 9:14 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
I was in Banff last week. The main highway is in a valley with mountains on both sides and you could barely see them. It rained one day and was clear the next, but them all started over again.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:21 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 9:21 PM on August 20, 2018
I'm in the smoke right now (coastal BC). I'd complain but as one of my neighbours put it, "Just be glad we're not where this smoke is coming from." Speaking of which, I'm going to head outside now and smoke a small cigar.
posted by philip-random at 9:29 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 9:29 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm in Spokane, which had the worst air quality in the country yesterday and last night. We closed up the house but the smoke slowly crept in and my eyes were watering by the evening, as the pollutant level spiked at 408 (out of 500) on one measuring gauge.
This is new, or newish. For the last five years, we have had a smoke season for the second half of the summer, though never as bad as this year.
We wonder what to do with this new normal. Do we need to get house air conditioning for the filtering function? Do we plan vacations around leaving the region for a few weeks in August?
posted by LarryC at 9:30 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
This is new, or newish. For the last five years, we have had a smoke season for the second half of the summer, though never as bad as this year.
We wonder what to do with this new normal. Do we need to get house air conditioning for the filtering function? Do we plan vacations around leaving the region for a few weeks in August?
posted by LarryC at 9:30 PM on August 20, 2018 [3 favorites]
A coworker of mine came back from Washington today--she was at a wedding over the weekend. I asked how the wedding went and she said that several guests nearly needed hospitalization due to the fires. This was followed by "Well, I guess they're married." This was her kid we're talking about.
Oy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:52 PM on August 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
Oy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:52 PM on August 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
The views here in Seattle are getting ridiculous. A few photos from Twitter today:
posted by mbrubeck at 9:57 PM on August 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
It's been hazy for days & we've had a few air quality alerts...& I live all the way in Minnesota
posted by giizhik at 10:24 PM on August 20, 2018
posted by giizhik at 10:24 PM on August 20, 2018
See, the thing is that the whole point of slogging through 9 months of dark, dreary drizzle is because you know there's three months of long, glorious sunshine waiting at the end.
Nerves are frazzled because the best part about being here has been stolen from us.
posted by rouftop at 10:26 PM on August 20, 2018 [17 favorites]
Nerves are frazzled because the best part about being here has been stolen from us.
posted by rouftop at 10:26 PM on August 20, 2018 [17 favorites]
Cliff Mass, (mentioned on the Blue previously and previouslier) talked about how this is not a new normal but rather an old normal on [Warning audio link] Friday's Weather with Cliff Mass. The bit about the normality of smoke in the Puget Sound is at the 3:56min mark.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 10:28 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Ignorantsavage at 10:28 PM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
the whole point of slogging through 9 months of dark, dreary drizzle
I mean I guess for you, but I sure don't feel that way. I would very much rather have 12 months of dark dreary drizzle that never(-ish) gets below 20F and never gets above 80F. This sunshine heat and smoke shit is worse than the usual sunshine and heat, I grant you that.
posted by mwhybark at 10:51 PM on August 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
I mean I guess for you, but I sure don't feel that way. I would very much rather have 12 months of dark dreary drizzle that never(-ish) gets below 20F and never gets above 80F. This sunshine heat and smoke shit is worse than the usual sunshine and heat, I grant you that.
posted by mwhybark at 10:51 PM on August 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
See, the thing is that the whole point of slogging through 9 months of dark, dreary drizzle is because you know there's three months of long, glorious sunshine waiting at the end.
I mean, if you just want sunshine, I've found the bay area to be in abundant supply. Or if you don't work in tech, Sacramento maybe.
posted by pwnguin at 11:07 PM on August 20, 2018
I mean, if you just want sunshine, I've found the bay area to be in abundant supply. Or if you don't work in tech, Sacramento maybe.
posted by pwnguin at 11:07 PM on August 20, 2018
Nerves are frazzled because the best part about being here has been stolen from us.
get active
and if you already are, then more so.
also, dump your car. and if you already have, then ... ?
get even more active!!!
posted by philip-random at 11:10 PM on August 20, 2018
get active
and if you already are, then more so.
also, dump your car. and if you already have, then ... ?
get even more active!!!
posted by philip-random at 11:10 PM on August 20, 2018
Ok the King 5 weatherman just told me to cancel my morning run. Sleeping in tomorrow!
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:18 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 11:18 PM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
> get even more active!!!
Except, we're not supposed to get too active during these smoke events ... at least not outside, which is otherwise one of the fun parts of Pacific Northwest summers. I guess my gym (and to a lesser extent my yoga place) have decent indoor air filtering. But mostly my body wants to avoid deep breaths.
posted by lisa g at 11:43 PM on August 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
Except, we're not supposed to get too active during these smoke events ... at least not outside, which is otherwise one of the fun parts of Pacific Northwest summers. I guess my gym (and to a lesser extent my yoga place) have decent indoor air filtering. But mostly my body wants to avoid deep breaths.
posted by lisa g at 11:43 PM on August 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
Here's a nice photo essay on resilience after forest fires in BC (from last year).
It seems indisputable that in the BC interior the problem stems from a combination of climate change and poor forestry management.
With warmer winters the mountain pine beetle has had much higher survivorship, leading to literally about 5 million hectares (50,000 square km) of forest kill in the last 15 years. In some places huge coontiguous areas of pine are standing and dead, but more subtly, there are smaller patches of dead pine almost everywhere, each of which can be the inception point of a serious fire.
But the bigger problem is the lack of prescribed burning. For millennia Indigenous people burnt the forests, removing the understory and the "kindling" and encouraging green growth (to encourage green growth for grazing and browsing animals, as well to enhance berries and other food crops). This was done regularly enough in an area that cumulatively the whole forest would see a fuel load reduction, and forest fires, including the deliberately set ones, would self-limit. Now we see dozens of out of control mega-fires that would be anomalies over the past 10,000 years, and indeed were anomalies until about 50 years ago when large scale fire suppression became possible and practiced. Additionally, "hack and squirt" forestry thinning and other kinds of management have exacerbated the amount of dead wood on the forest floor.
While about 50% of fires in BC are now human-caused, this has probably always been the case, and is a bit of a red herring in my view. The combination of beetle kill and historical fire-fighting has left the forests sick and really in some ways they do need to burn even more extensively and then, crucially, be allowed to then return to a properly balanced state which will include deliberate, small burns as a regular feature of forestry practice.
(It may never happen because of the fucked up forest industry but commercial forestry science and actual science are converging in agreement on the causes, at least).
posted by Rumple at 11:45 PM on August 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
It seems indisputable that in the BC interior the problem stems from a combination of climate change and poor forestry management.
With warmer winters the mountain pine beetle has had much higher survivorship, leading to literally about 5 million hectares (50,000 square km) of forest kill in the last 15 years. In some places huge coontiguous areas of pine are standing and dead, but more subtly, there are smaller patches of dead pine almost everywhere, each of which can be the inception point of a serious fire.
But the bigger problem is the lack of prescribed burning. For millennia Indigenous people burnt the forests, removing the understory and the "kindling" and encouraging green growth (to encourage green growth for grazing and browsing animals, as well to enhance berries and other food crops). This was done regularly enough in an area that cumulatively the whole forest would see a fuel load reduction, and forest fires, including the deliberately set ones, would self-limit. Now we see dozens of out of control mega-fires that would be anomalies over the past 10,000 years, and indeed were anomalies until about 50 years ago when large scale fire suppression became possible and practiced. Additionally, "hack and squirt" forestry thinning and other kinds of management have exacerbated the amount of dead wood on the forest floor.
While about 50% of fires in BC are now human-caused, this has probably always been the case, and is a bit of a red herring in my view. The combination of beetle kill and historical fire-fighting has left the forests sick and really in some ways they do need to burn even more extensively and then, crucially, be allowed to then return to a properly balanced state which will include deliberate, small burns as a regular feature of forestry practice.
(It may never happen because of the fucked up forest industry but commercial forestry science and actual science are converging in agreement on the causes, at least).
posted by Rumple at 11:45 PM on August 20, 2018 [5 favorites]
Do we need to get house air conditioning for the filtering function?
If you have a forced-air furnace, you can just run the system constantly on fan mode, with the heat off. Another benefit is it really helps even out the temperature in the house from top to bottom, especially if you have a basement. Just be sure to replace your filter at least every 2 months (every month is even better).
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 12:02 AM on August 21, 2018
If you have a forced-air furnace, you can just run the system constantly on fan mode, with the heat off. Another benefit is it really helps even out the temperature in the house from top to bottom, especially if you have a basement. Just be sure to replace your filter at least every 2 months (every month is even better).
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 12:02 AM on August 21, 2018
My asthmatic lungs and I are on 'lockdown' in Portland. Just like last August, only worse. I'm extra grateful for my air conditioner and the fact that I now work remotely.
posted by velvet winter at 1:51 AM on August 21, 2018
posted by velvet winter at 1:51 AM on August 21, 2018
The east and west coast need a precipitation exchange program.
Yeah something I still haven't adjusted to even after 7 years of living on the East Coast is that it rains in the summer. I'm surprised by every thunderstorm.
posted by Jacqueline at 2:44 AM on August 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
Yeah something I still haven't adjusted to even after 7 years of living on the East Coast is that it rains in the summer. I'm surprised by every thunderstorm.
posted by Jacqueline at 2:44 AM on August 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
One thing I haven't been able to determine from overseas as I'm not the best at locating local news - is it getting worse or better, and when do the experts think the fires be resolved? When Australia sent across our firefighters in mid July it was reported there were 160 fires. By early August it was reported there were 400 fires. Just this week I was seeing a report of 660 fires and now extremely bad air quality. Are we at the turning point yet? I keep thinking surely the fires must run out of fuel...
posted by xdvesper at 4:24 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by xdvesper at 4:24 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yep it's the new normal, last year the fires made huge headlines all summer, this year more than a footnote but not news even though bigger fires.
posted by sammyo at 6:06 AM on August 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by sammyo at 6:06 AM on August 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
There were similar conditions a couple of weeks ago in Siberia
posted by MrVisible at 7:11 AM on August 21, 2018
posted by MrVisible at 7:11 AM on August 21, 2018
I'm in southern Oregon - the fires will stop after it starts raining here, think late September or October.
posted by momus_window at 7:33 AM on August 21, 2018
posted by momus_window at 7:33 AM on August 21, 2018
I'm in the far reaches of the SF Bay Area, in the Delta. All the smoke makes feel like I have a cold. My throat hurts and I have a headache. I'm sure my eight-mile bike commute doesn't help, but that's how I get to work.
I feel bad complaining at all. I still have my home and haven't lost a loved one as have too many in CA and Oregon. Still, this smoke is getting old.
posted by cccorlew at 8:01 AM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
I feel bad complaining at all. I still have my home and haven't lost a loved one as have too many in CA and Oregon. Still, this smoke is getting old.
posted by cccorlew at 8:01 AM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
There's a price to pay for holding up in one of the last livable biomes once climate change peaks.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:48 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by humboldt32 at 8:48 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
All the smoke makes feel like I have a cold. My throat hurts and I have a headache.
worth noting. this is basically how my body reacted to Los Angeles the last time I was there (late 1993), which it took me a while to figure out. A few days into my stay, I was complaining about my symptoms to a local and he just laughed and pointed at the smog.
posted by philip-random at 8:59 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
worth noting. this is basically how my body reacted to Los Angeles the last time I was there (late 1993), which it took me a while to figure out. A few days into my stay, I was complaining about my symptoms to a local and he just laughed and pointed at the smog.
posted by philip-random at 8:59 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm in Kitsap County, west of Seattle, but east of the Olympics.
Re: LET IT BURN and
Unfortunately, it turns out to not be quite that simple, because of course it isn't.
Until it is. There was a small-ish fire last week in the Olympics and the ranger and firefighters there said that this could be very good for the forest. It was smoky, but the understory cleared out, and none of the big maples or conifers were affected. The clearing nature of the fire will provide more light for seedlings to grow.
We live about 1/8th mile from the water (Sinclair Inlet), and cannot see it from our windows. It reminds me of living in Denver in the 60's/70's - in the winter the smog was so awful we couldn't even see the foothills. Then we got an EPA and actual science. For a while anyway.
posted by dbmcd at 9:05 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Re: LET IT BURN and
Unfortunately, it turns out to not be quite that simple, because of course it isn't.
Until it is. There was a small-ish fire last week in the Olympics and the ranger and firefighters there said that this could be very good for the forest. It was smoky, but the understory cleared out, and none of the big maples or conifers were affected. The clearing nature of the fire will provide more light for seedlings to grow.
We live about 1/8th mile from the water (Sinclair Inlet), and cannot see it from our windows. It reminds me of living in Denver in the 60's/70's - in the winter the smog was so awful we couldn't even see the foothills. Then we got an EPA and actual science. For a while anyway.
posted by dbmcd at 9:05 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Couple months ago I made a filtration system for my window fan in anticipation of a possible Smogust.
Yesterday I changed out the old filter for a higher rated one and the old filter was a deep, oily black. Now that's not just from yesterday... it's a few month's worth of build up. But it's really disturbing, nonetheless, and I'm keeping a close eye on the new filter to see how long it takes to reach the same shade.
posted by Laura Palmer's Cold Dead Kiss at 9:15 AM on August 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yesterday I changed out the old filter for a higher rated one and the old filter was a deep, oily black. Now that's not just from yesterday... it's a few month's worth of build up. But it's really disturbing, nonetheless, and I'm keeping a close eye on the new filter to see how long it takes to reach the same shade.
posted by Laura Palmer's Cold Dead Kiss at 9:15 AM on August 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
Is this the place to complain about Cliff Mass once again getting up on his Well, Actually soapbox and providing a bunch of headlines for climate change deniers?
I can appreciate his narrow technical point -- although TBH I'm not sure I give it that much weight, he's not a forestry scientist, and despite the charts and graphs it seems like a very cursory analysis -- but how do you not preface this with some sort of disclaimer?
"Climate change is real. Tying a particular event to climate change is hard, and that's what this post is about. Any use of this post to argue against the reality of climate change itself is dishonest, and people making that argument should be considered liars and charlatans."
posted by bjrubble at 11:02 AM on August 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
I can appreciate his narrow technical point -- although TBH I'm not sure I give it that much weight, he's not a forestry scientist, and despite the charts and graphs it seems like a very cursory analysis -- but how do you not preface this with some sort of disclaimer?
"Climate change is real. Tying a particular event to climate change is hard, and that's what this post is about. Any use of this post to argue against the reality of climate change itself is dishonest, and people making that argument should be considered liars and charlatans."
posted by bjrubble at 11:02 AM on August 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
I walked to work this morning in what felt like a half dead city. So many people are staying home the streets were mostly deserted with the ash falling everywhere.
So I feel like Mad Max and I sound like Tom Waits. The future is here, and it's pretty much the worst.
posted by lumpenprole at 11:09 AM on August 21, 2018 [7 favorites]
So I feel like Mad Max and I sound like Tom Waits. The future is here, and it's pretty much the worst.
posted by lumpenprole at 11:09 AM on August 21, 2018 [7 favorites]
The wedge of sunlight slanting across my front porch in Seattle is pale orange, and the edges of the shadows are blurred.
Definitely an End Times feel to it all.
posted by jamjam at 11:09 AM on August 21, 2018
Definitely an End Times feel to it all.
posted by jamjam at 11:09 AM on August 21, 2018
It's scary and it sucks and I'm worried. I keep thinking, could a Santa Rosa or a Redding happen here, on the outskirts of Tacoma?
posted by missmobtown at 11:10 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by missmobtown at 11:10 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: feels like Mad Max and sounds like Tom Waits...
posted by PhineasGage at 11:18 AM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by PhineasGage at 11:18 AM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
We had a power outage last night and using my flashlight in the house was like X-Files cosplay, a well-defined beam of light through the murk. Ugh.
posted by maxwelton at 11:36 AM on August 21, 2018
posted by maxwelton at 11:36 AM on August 21, 2018
The top image is from two days ago at Manning Park; by the afternoon one couldn't see the tree line at the bottom of the slope which is about 400m away from the vantage point.
posted by Mitheral at 12:54 PM on August 21, 2018
posted by Mitheral at 12:54 PM on August 21, 2018
Both my husband and I were wondering if we were getting sick yesterday, and then realized it was likely from having the door open (no AC, too damn hot in the apartment). Downtown Seattle today for work, all the black-clad punk rock bike couriers are wearing elaborate face masks/breathing apparatus for that extra Mad Max feel.
posted by skycrashesdown at 1:42 PM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by skycrashesdown at 1:42 PM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
I swear - I can smell and feel smoke inside my air conditioned, well ventilated office, in the Eastside suburbs.
So yes. I'm writing LINQ queries while wearing a black N99 mask, in my office. I don't know if it's the placebo effect or actual smoke, but it makes me feel better.
It's creepy and weird out there. With my black mask, a friend commented that I 'looked like Antifa'. Oh no!
posted by spinifex23 at 4:54 PM on August 21, 2018
So yes. I'm writing LINQ queries while wearing a black N99 mask, in my office. I don't know if it's the placebo effect or actual smoke, but it makes me feel better.
It's creepy and weird out there. With my black mask, a friend commented that I 'looked like Antifa'. Oh no!
posted by spinifex23 at 4:54 PM on August 21, 2018
One thing I haven't been able to determine from overseas as I'm not the best at locating local news - is it getting worse or better, and when do the experts think the fires be resolved?
The last two summers I worked on a contract crew fighting wildfires here in BC - I'm not a trained fire fighter, we were just going in after containment and doing grunt mop-up duties, mostly patrolling, finding hotspots, then running hose in and blasting them, that kinda stuff. Anyhow both years the magic date seemed to be September 15th when the state of emergency was called off and work dried up. No guarantees obviously, and even if it does come then it's not instantaneous and can take a month or so for nature to shut them down. But that does seem to be the date that the weather swings the other way up here.
It was pretty ridiculous the final week I was deployed last year - we were 'fighting fire' in full rain gear getting torrentially dumped on, and every morning I would wake up in firecamp with a full sheet of ice on my tent.
posted by mannequito at 5:12 PM on August 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
The last two summers I worked on a contract crew fighting wildfires here in BC - I'm not a trained fire fighter, we were just going in after containment and doing grunt mop-up duties, mostly patrolling, finding hotspots, then running hose in and blasting them, that kinda stuff. Anyhow both years the magic date seemed to be September 15th when the state of emergency was called off and work dried up. No guarantees obviously, and even if it does come then it's not instantaneous and can take a month or so for nature to shut them down. But that does seem to be the date that the weather swings the other way up here.
It was pretty ridiculous the final week I was deployed last year - we were 'fighting fire' in full rain gear getting torrentially dumped on, and every morning I would wake up in firecamp with a full sheet of ice on my tent.
posted by mannequito at 5:12 PM on August 21, 2018 [6 favorites]
Spent the morning running around getting filtration shit and masks. All the house fans have filters taped to them now and we have about sixty masks - if you know me and live nearby, just ask. Dog is stir crazy.
I had a ticket to the M's game tonight but after last night when the game lasted nearly four hours I was not into it, sold on Stubhub a few hours ago.
Tomorrow I tackle the forced-air furnace deal - we have one, and even bought filters for it for the first couple of years we owned the house, and then forgot about it until the house was freezing in the winter and I realized it was because we hadn't changed the filter for five years. I did not even know it was possible to run a furnace in fan mode and do not know how to do it for this one, which has again not had a filter change for years.
Room a/c units (portable swamp coolers) are working great, not quite as effective as the basement as a lung for the house, but I'm feeling moderately optimistic.
I will still be on the hunt for full-on-Frank-Booth tank fed masks, though. I have worked at home for more than a decade and sometimes play just the shipboard soundbed from the TNG Enterprise NCC-1701D at foundation rattling volume on repeat because I think of the house as a starship and love the solitude of working in it, despite the urban setting. When I checked my equipment locker I was SHOCKED to find I have exactly zero pressure suits. Next time we make shipfall at Ceres, imma fix that shit.
posted by mwhybark at 7:12 PM on August 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
I had a ticket to the M's game tonight but after last night when the game lasted nearly four hours I was not into it, sold on Stubhub a few hours ago.
Tomorrow I tackle the forced-air furnace deal - we have one, and even bought filters for it for the first couple of years we owned the house, and then forgot about it until the house was freezing in the winter and I realized it was because we hadn't changed the filter for five years. I did not even know it was possible to run a furnace in fan mode and do not know how to do it for this one, which has again not had a filter change for years.
Room a/c units (portable swamp coolers) are working great, not quite as effective as the basement as a lung for the house, but I'm feeling moderately optimistic.
I will still be on the hunt for full-on-Frank-Booth tank fed masks, though. I have worked at home for more than a decade and sometimes play just the shipboard soundbed from the TNG Enterprise NCC-1701D at foundation rattling volume on repeat because I think of the house as a starship and love the solitude of working in it, despite the urban setting. When I checked my equipment locker I was SHOCKED to find I have exactly zero pressure suits. Next time we make shipfall at Ceres, imma fix that shit.
posted by mwhybark at 7:12 PM on August 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
the magic date seemed to be September 15th
Less than 30 days to go, comrades and shipmates. Masks up, hearts full. We'll get through it.
posted by mwhybark at 7:14 PM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
Less than 30 days to go, comrades and shipmates. Masks up, hearts full. We'll get through it.
posted by mwhybark at 7:14 PM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
So I feel like Mad Max and I sound like Tom Waits.
...and look like Tom Hardy
posted by mwhybark at 7:15 PM on August 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
...and look like Tom Hardy
posted by mwhybark at 7:15 PM on August 21, 2018 [2 favorites]
I live in Seattle, and I took a little regional vacation far up Vancouver Island, and everywhere was smoke, smoke, smoke.
Traveling that far and having it still be smoky, everywhere, gives the distinct impression that the world is ending.
posted by gurple at 8:38 PM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Traveling that far and having it still be smoky, everywhere, gives the distinct impression that the world is ending.
posted by gurple at 8:38 PM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
Somehow, we had a lovely breeze in SE Washington that blew a lot of the crap out of here. Yesterday was awful, today much less so. Blue sky! at least for a while, totally unexpected. Temps which have been holding in the high 90's + for weeks are heading for comfortable, with 10-15 mph winds steady from the south for a few days. Bliss! I hope you all find relief soon.
posted by wallabear at 8:40 PM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by wallabear at 8:40 PM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]
The reports for Seattle are pretty steady in things starting to improve tomorrow after 5pm. My apartment is still okay (I haven't the faintest idea why, but not going to question it), but I went grocery shopping earlier and a very short walk there and back had a noticeable effect on my. Also I had to wipe ash off of the top of my can of kombucha, which I feel is an extremely Seattle sentence right now.
The light's still weird -- gold, but not in the good end-of-summer way. It's off-putting to have sunshine and shadows, but not see sky. Someone up-thread called the light bronze, and that seems about right. Fingers crossed for a break soon, for everyone's sakes.
posted by kalimac at 8:52 PM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
The light's still weird -- gold, but not in the good end-of-summer way. It's off-putting to have sunshine and shadows, but not see sky. Someone up-thread called the light bronze, and that seems about right. Fingers crossed for a break soon, for everyone's sakes.
posted by kalimac at 8:52 PM on August 21, 2018 [3 favorites]
mwhybark: " I did not even know it was possible to run a furnace in fan mode and do not know how to do it for this one, which has again not had a filter change for years."
Not all furnaces have this ability. Generally the older the furnace, especially if it doesn't have A/C, the less likely you can run on fan only. Sometimes this is a thermostat limitiation (IE: the thermostat doesn't have a fan only switch), sometimes it is a limitiation imposed because there are only two conductors in the control circuit wiring, and sometimes the furnace itself doesn't support it.
And ya on a heat only furnace you should change the filter at least once a year but often twice if you have allergies or live in a dusty area.
posted by Mitheral at 9:06 PM on August 21, 2018
Not all furnaces have this ability. Generally the older the furnace, especially if it doesn't have A/C, the less likely you can run on fan only. Sometimes this is a thermostat limitiation (IE: the thermostat doesn't have a fan only switch), sometimes it is a limitiation imposed because there are only two conductors in the control circuit wiring, and sometimes the furnace itself doesn't support it.
And ya on a heat only furnace you should change the filter at least once a year but often twice if you have allergies or live in a dusty area.
posted by Mitheral at 9:06 PM on August 21, 2018
Having changed out the control panel thermostat, I can definitively state there are only two wires running up out of the furnace to the UI device. That doesn't definitively argue that the furnace can't run fan-only, but it would tend to indicate that it was not installed with the intent of making that feature available.
posted by mwhybark at 9:10 PM on August 21, 2018
posted by mwhybark at 9:10 PM on August 21, 2018
Sometimes there is a switch on the furnace itself that can turn the fan only on but you are probably out of luck.
posted by Mitheral at 9:43 PM on August 21, 2018
posted by Mitheral at 9:43 PM on August 21, 2018
Tonight, the Seattle Reign played the Houston Dash to decide a playoff berth in the National Women's Soccer League.
At Memorial Stadium. Here in Seattle. In this shit.
Both teams were on standby basically all day while NWSL sat with their fingers crossed that the smoke would magically clear up in time for the game. And then NWSL deliberately let things progress until less than an hour before the game--with the stadium box office opening two hours prior per normal--before finally announcing for really reals that yes, the game would go on. They literally created more pressure to play by not telling fans ahead of time so there would be people in the parking lot waiting to see a game that absolutely should not happen.
Reasonably in-shape people are finding their ordinary chores too much to handle in this. The city, the county, the state are all putting out warnings. But sure, let's have a full professional, championship-playoff-deciding soccer match. I'm so angry at NWSL right now I don't even know where to begin.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:23 PM on August 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
At Memorial Stadium. Here in Seattle. In this shit.
Both teams were on standby basically all day while NWSL sat with their fingers crossed that the smoke would magically clear up in time for the game. And then NWSL deliberately let things progress until less than an hour before the game--with the stadium box office opening two hours prior per normal--before finally announcing for really reals that yes, the game would go on. They literally created more pressure to play by not telling fans ahead of time so there would be people in the parking lot waiting to see a game that absolutely should not happen.
Reasonably in-shape people are finding their ordinary chores too much to handle in this. The city, the county, the state are all putting out warnings. But sure, let's have a full professional, championship-playoff-deciding soccer match. I'm so angry at NWSL right now I don't even know where to begin.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:23 PM on August 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
bjrubble, I would suggest that your irritation is somewhat misplaced. Being quoted out of context and misused as a resource is in no way the responsibility of presenter. As far as his presentation of the published data goes, are you discounting the data provided by CALFIRE [I still want to call them CDF] or do you feel that he has misinterpreted it in some way?
The point is was trying to get across was that the smoke in the Puget Sound area is an old thing we had changed through fire suppression. The twentieth century was in so many ways full of anomalies. Summer Seattle without smoke was apparently one of them.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 11:25 PM on August 21, 2018
The point is was trying to get across was that the smoke in the Puget Sound area is an old thing we had changed through fire suppression. The twentieth century was in so many ways full of anomalies. Summer Seattle without smoke was apparently one of them.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 11:25 PM on August 21, 2018
PhineasGage: "The World Is on Fire. Are You Depressed?"
This is fine.
posted by chavenet at 5:37 AM on August 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is fine.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49493993/this-is-fine.0.jpg){kind=link}
posted by chavenet at 5:37 AM on August 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
We just got home from a week and a half out west. North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, then back home to Minnesota. We’ve been under a could of smoke the entire time. When we hit Bozeman I told my son and wife “I grew up here, there are mountains all around us, you’ll have to trust me on this” because we couldn’t see them. Between Glacier and the fire in Ennis and the fire we actually saw in the Gallatin Canyon and the fires in CA and elsewhere it was weird. Occasionally things would clear enough to see some good views, but on other days we awoke to ash on the car.
We drove the Beartooth Highway which is breathtaking but damn, it was like driving it in a sea of fog.
Next time I take them west we are going in the spring.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:23 AM on August 22, 2018
We drove the Beartooth Highway which is breathtaking but damn, it was like driving it in a sea of fog.
Next time I take them west we are going in the spring.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:23 AM on August 22, 2018
bjrubble, I would suggest that your irritation is somewhat misplaced. Being quoted out of context and misused as a resource is in no way the responsibility of presenter.
Cliff Mass has gotten a lot of push-back about his handling of climate issues - he's a pretty classic case of "meteorologist writing about climate" syndrome. He will never ever allow that any particular event is tied to climate change. While it's true that we can never be definite about that, he refuses to acknowledge the uncertainty that creates given the popularity of his writing. There's a lot to be irritated about the dude. He's a smart guy and he's likely correct about the technical details of any given topic but it is very difficult to trust his framing or anything he says about climate.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:29 AM on August 22, 2018 [4 favorites]
Cliff Mass has gotten a lot of push-back about his handling of climate issues - he's a pretty classic case of "meteorologist writing about climate" syndrome. He will never ever allow that any particular event is tied to climate change. While it's true that we can never be definite about that, he refuses to acknowledge the uncertainty that creates given the popularity of his writing. There's a lot to be irritated about the dude. He's a smart guy and he's likely correct about the technical details of any given topic but it is very difficult to trust his framing or anything he says about climate.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:29 AM on August 22, 2018 [4 favorites]
Not to belabor the point but it just popped up in my twitter feed that he was on Dor Monson's show talking about this yesterday. It means something different when you point out how non-climate effects play into this as when you go on the radio show of an actual climate change denier to talk about that. Reference here.
He's not a climate change denier, but he's very happy to make himself useful to them, which is just as bad.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:21 PM on August 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
He's not a climate change denier, but he's very happy to make himself useful to them, which is just as bad.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:21 PM on August 22, 2018 [3 favorites]
I would strongly disagree about being unable to trust his framing. He is fairly consistent in the difference between climate and weather. He has been clear in his recognition of climate change and is in no way denying it. As far as being technically true, I have to agree, he is being technically true. If you want a stronger rhetorical position then what the facts provide, I believe those are called lies. If you think that you can point to a specific event and say, "See this here is climate change," that flies in the face of the science. Climate change is creating more extreme events more often. Extreme events have always been with us though. We can say that Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, et. al. are the kinds of things that we can expect to see on a more regular basis. The hotter summers and the jet stream shifts are similar statistical trends that point out climate change but not any particular heat wave or stagnant air event. The fact that it is easier to point to something and cry, 'Climate Change,' does not make it true. Climate change is not an acute issue but rather a transformation of background conditions. It is best compared to a general decline in health. You may go to the hospital for a bladder infection, then a heart attack, then a stroke, then some other damned thing, all in a relatively short period of time and no one event is caused by the same proximate cause but when taken all together point out that something in general is wrong with you.
Getting pissed that climate deniers use the idea that climate change needs to be a proximate cause to be true is silly. Even if you could point to an event and say, "Here is undeniable proof," they would still tell you that you are wrong. They are not arguing from a rational position. They are not debating about climate change being, 'real'. They are engaged in a zealous cause that can not be breached by facts or rhetoric. For many climate deniers that idea that humans could affect God's creation is axiomatically impossible. For others the idea that their behavior should be regulated brings about a need to justify and deny reality that results in the tragic comedy of that plays out before us. And for some, it is simply necessary to contradict and deny any position the, 'Libs,' might take. To think that a position which is, 'technically,' true is somehow different from just being true smacks of a similar zealousness.
If you think there is some way to convince, through rational argument, climate change deniers I would suggest that you need to spend some time thinking about the folks of Tangier Island (SLYT). These folks are actually suffering from rising sea levels. It can be shown that the sea level is actually rising. To them it is just erosion. These folks are not stupid. They are however true believers and one of the things they happen to believe is, in itself, stupid. Meteorologists talking about climate change would be quite likely to go, 'Yeap, that's climate change in action,' whereas deniers are just in denial. A tautological observation, I understand, but one worth reminding folks of.
As to this discussion, Cliff Mass' point that the Puget Sound area getting smokey has a long history which predates that fire suppression at all costs system of the twentieth century should work as a warning to folks in the area that we should get ready for this kind of event to be a regular thing. We should added filter masks to our emergency stores just like we have water in case of an earthquake and candles for a power outage. Maybe we should start budgeting in air filtration systems for our homes. And now that I think of it, maybe plan on filter mask donations to homeless services, if you can.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 12:57 AM on August 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Getting pissed that climate deniers use the idea that climate change needs to be a proximate cause to be true is silly. Even if you could point to an event and say, "Here is undeniable proof," they would still tell you that you are wrong. They are not arguing from a rational position. They are not debating about climate change being, 'real'. They are engaged in a zealous cause that can not be breached by facts or rhetoric. For many climate deniers that idea that humans could affect God's creation is axiomatically impossible. For others the idea that their behavior should be regulated brings about a need to justify and deny reality that results in the tragic comedy of that plays out before us. And for some, it is simply necessary to contradict and deny any position the, 'Libs,' might take. To think that a position which is, 'technically,' true is somehow different from just being true smacks of a similar zealousness.
If you think there is some way to convince, through rational argument, climate change deniers I would suggest that you need to spend some time thinking about the folks of Tangier Island (SLYT). These folks are actually suffering from rising sea levels. It can be shown that the sea level is actually rising. To them it is just erosion. These folks are not stupid. They are however true believers and one of the things they happen to believe is, in itself, stupid. Meteorologists talking about climate change would be quite likely to go, 'Yeap, that's climate change in action,' whereas deniers are just in denial. A tautological observation, I understand, but one worth reminding folks of.
As to this discussion, Cliff Mass' point that the Puget Sound area getting smokey has a long history which predates that fire suppression at all costs system of the twentieth century should work as a warning to folks in the area that we should get ready for this kind of event to be a regular thing. We should added filter masks to our emergency stores just like we have water in case of an earthquake and candles for a power outage. Maybe we should start budgeting in air filtration systems for our homes. And now that I think of it, maybe plan on filter mask donations to homeless services, if you can.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 12:57 AM on August 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
OMG, I can see the sun and blue skies. Actual sky blue. Normal sunlight. It's like magic.
posted by daq at 3:21 PM on August 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by daq at 3:21 PM on August 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
METAFILTER: If you want a stronger rhetorical position then what the facts provide, I believe those are called lies.
also, clear skies today here on BC's central coast, fresh breezes, rain clouds teasing from the west but thus far not delivering. The light was superb about an hour ago, or maybe it was just these new sunglasses. And I know that correlation does not = causation and all that, but I've been on this coast for the past almost fifty years and I've never seen a smoke-out as bad as we had this year, except last year. So yeah, that's two summers in a row that are worse than anything I've ever experienced, and I've been in these parts since at least 1969. Just sayin ...
posted by philip-random at 7:45 PM on August 23, 2018
also, clear skies today here on BC's central coast, fresh breezes, rain clouds teasing from the west but thus far not delivering. The light was superb about an hour ago, or maybe it was just these new sunglasses. And I know that correlation does not = causation and all that, but I've been on this coast for the past almost fifty years and I've never seen a smoke-out as bad as we had this year, except last year. So yeah, that's two summers in a row that are worse than anything I've ever experienced, and I've been in these parts since at least 1969. Just sayin ...
posted by philip-random at 7:45 PM on August 23, 2018
They used to burn the forest right in the city
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 7:58 PM on August 23, 2018
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 7:58 PM on August 23, 2018
I mean, if you just want sunshine, I've found the bay area to be in abundant supply.
Well fuck, I jinxed it.
posted by pwnguin at 10:17 PM on August 23, 2018
Well fuck, I jinxed it.
posted by pwnguin at 10:17 PM on August 23, 2018
What It's Like to Get Caught in a Wildfire, Peter Ames Carlin, 7 DEC 2017.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:06 AM on September 11, 2018
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:06 AM on September 11, 2018
« Older It's on! I mean, it was on. It was on, but now... | Medicare for All (for Less!) Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by potrzebie at 6:09 PM on August 20, 2018 [33 favorites]