Smoke gets in my eyes

Plane landing in the smog
at Sea-Tac Airport

I was about to go out for my afternoon half marathon, but the Seattle Times warns that the “elderly” should avoid exercise because of the current air pollution. So, for the sake of my health, I’m keeping to my hammock with a calming G&T.
--Facebook, Aug. 14, 2018

My Facebook humor on Tuesday drew more appreciation than usual.  Everyone in the Northwest Corner is experiencing the same frustration -- it's hazy and smoky outside.

When I was young, "Los Angeles" and "smog" were practically synonymous.  You couldn't go wrong making a joke about L.A. smog.  They went together like "orange" and "Trump."  Los Angeles might have glamor, and freeways, and entertainment, and sunshine, and oranges, and oil wells.  But it also had smog.  We'll just sit up here in our drizzle, we thought, grinning, but thanks.

But that was then.  Smog reports by a website called Weather Underground gave Seattle Tuesday a rating of 154 (the EPA's rating was 170).  That gave Seattle one of the worst smog ratings in the world.  Beijing was 54; Delhi was 89; Mumbai was 152.  Only Abu Dhabi edged out Seattle, with 155.

The Seattle Times reports that this is the second straight year Seattle has experienced a very smoggy summer.  This has been one of the hottest and driest summers on record, resulting in a record number of wildfires.  We are surrounded by wildfires in three directions.  Northerly winds bring down smoke from as far away as British Columbia (566 wildfires currently burning).  Only westerly winds can blow the smoke away.

Fortunately, westerlies off the Pacific aren't rare in Seattle, and the flow of marine air is supposed to reduce -- but not eliminate -- the contaminants in the air today and tomorrow.  Next week, however, we are back to high temperatures and a lot of sun.

But it's just wood smoke, you say?  Experts say that particulates of any kind -- whether from burning wood or burning fuel oil -- have the same effect on your body.

The small particles go to “deepest parts of your lungs,” triggering an inflammation response from the body, he said. That response can increase your heart rate and blood pressure.

Seattle Times (Aug. 15, 2018).   My blood pressure, measured at 2 p.m., was 104/63, so I'm not at death's door.  But for those with borderline health, the air quality is no joking matter. 

It seems like every year is getting hotter, and drier, and smokier.  And less healthy for us all.  But fortunately, the administration has determined that global warming is a liberal hoax, so we don't have that to worry about.  And even if it existed, man's activities didn't cause it.  And even if man's activities caused it, there's nothing that we can do about it now.  And even if we could do anything about it now, we're not going to do it.

So maybe next year it will be cool and wet.  And the air will be pristine.   Meanwhile, join me in sucking down those gin and tonics.