Friday, June 28, 2019 | 2 a.m.
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On the first day of spring in 1935, a black cloud towering 10,000 feet into the sky blew into Washington, D.C.
The source of that cloud was a shock to the nation: Scientists determined it had come from the Midwest, where a Dust Bowl storm had blown so much dirt so high into the atmosphere that the jet stream carried it to the East Coast.
Now a modern version of that environmental disaster is playing out. Scientists say that smoke from wildfires that are growing in frequency and intensity will leave tens of millions more Americans at risk of health problems and premature deaths.
Although the threat is coming from the West, this isn’t a regional problem. Comparable to the Dust Bowl days, the smoke will spread farther and farther as more of it is produced. A team of atmosphere researchers from Harvard and Yale said cross-country winds can carry smoke for hundreds or even thousands of miles.
Meanwhile, the researchers estimated that more than 300 counties in the West would experience severe smoke amid fire seasons lasting weeks longer than in previous years.
This is an alarming development, and it adds to the urgency to address climate change.
In the Las Vegas Valley, we know all too well what it’s like to live with wildfire smoke. The Carpenter 1 fire in 2013 is a vivid memory for many valley residents, who also have contended with smoke blowing in several times from next door from fires in California and Arizona.
For people who suffer from respiratory issues, wildfire smoke is a potentially lethal threat that can trigger severe breathing problems. And for everyone, it makes being outdoors unpleasant.
In a recent story about the situation, the Associated Press focused on Ashland, Ore., a small community in the southern part of the state.
In each of the past two summers, the AP reported, Ashland residents had suffered through about 40 days of smoky air. Ashland, which is the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and refers to itself as “Cultureland,” had to cancel more than two dozen outdoor performances because of the smoke.
Family physician Justin Adams told the AP that he worried that some of his patients would suffer long-term health effects due to the problem.
“It was essentially like they’d started smoking again for two months,” he said.
Don’t be misled: This problem isn’t being driven by forest management practices. It’s being caused by greenhouse gas-fueled global warming, which has disrupted weather patterns and intensified the drought that has gripped large parts of the West and Southwest for nearly 20 years.
Southern Nevada, unfortunately, is in the thick of the problem areas. This year, officials are warning that the wildfire threat could be the worst ever, due to an unusually wet spring that triggered heavy plant growth. As those plants dry out, they become fuel for fires.
Nevadans, to their credit, have recognized the need to address climate change, as they showed during the past two elections by voting for candidates who support development of renewable energy and tighter limits on CO2 emissions. Voters in 2018 also passed a ballot measure requiring the state to begin producing at least half of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.
These are good moves. Without them, in fact, the situation threatens to spiral — smoke from wildfires can and will cancel out air quality gains from declines in coal-fired power generation, proliferation of electric vehicles and other measures that are reducing greenhouse gases.
So by joining other states that are taking a responsible approach to climate change, Nevada is on the right course. Given the regressive, destructive climate policies of the current presidential administration, action at the state and local levels is critical.
