New research from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality confirms that wildfire smoke is still a major contributor to poor air quality across the state. According to the analysis, the wildfire season of 2020 and 2021 will be more severe than last year’s. In addition, there was significantly less smog in 2022 compared to the previous several years.
However, persistent fires continued to contribute to poor air quality in cities and towns across the state. According to the research, the areas of central and southern Oregon felt the effects of the smoke the most last year. Check the tweet below:-
Lest anyone who hasn’t experienced western wildfire smoke is wondering just how bad things can get:
in August and September of 2020 most of western Oregon and Washington looked like this, when it was good.
The second photo was taken on a day when things weren’t so good. pic.twitter.com/wLBmj76i34— Alternate San Juan Island, NOT affiliated with NPS (@AltSanJuanIsle) June 8, 2023
More days than any other place in Oregon, Oakridge southeast of Eugene experienced bad air quality. It lasted for 37 days, the longest such period in the city’s history. Cedar Creek Fire, the biggest fire in Central Oregon in 2017, began blazing on August 1 and continued burning into October. In September, when strong easterly winds and exceptionally warm weather hit the state, its size quickly grew.
There were more days with poor air quality in cities in the Willamette Valley last year than in 2021, but fewer than during the disastrous wildfires of 2020. Seven days in 2018 had bad air quality in Eugene, up from three days in 2021. Three were in Salem, an increase from 0 in 2021. Up from zero in 2021, Albany now has two. From a bare 0 in 2021, Portland now has 3.
Using information from the Air Quality Index, this annual study monitors the changes in air quality caused by wildfires in 24 different cities across Oregon.
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The principal contaminant in wildfire smoke is fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, which is measured by the index. The scale ranks air quality from “good” to “very unhealthy” to “hazardous,” depending on how bad it is. The report’s authors refer to the total number of days in the four worst categories as “unhealthy air quality days.”
