Meteorologist worried air quality could worsen this year from wildfires

There are over 200 active wildfires in the province, most of them south of Prince George. But some of the more devastating ones such as the fires in Lytton and Kamloops is now being felt here in Prince George.

One local UNBC professor has been closely tracking our air quality and he says things are moderate right now, but given the uncertainty of weather forecasts, things could change.

“At the moment the impact of wildfire smoke is not too bad. But it was worse, it was worse on the weekend. It was worse last week than it is at the moment. Perhaps because there’s a little less smoke around, perhaps there’s a little less mixing in the atmosphere, it’s hard to say exactly why.” Professor Peter L. Jackson, Environmental Science at UNBC.

Professor Jackson says that Prince George is seeing elevated levels of Particular Matter. A measurement of solid and liquid particles in the air.

“We’re concerned about tiny particles because they can be deep in the lungs where it can cause damage and health impacts. So when we’re looking at wildfire smoke, we’re looking at it as PM_2.5”

At the moment, Jackson says the levels aren’t too bad for most people to breathe. But meteorologist Doug Lundquist of Environment Canada is concerned about a potential trend of poor air quality.

“It’s worse than it ever has been this time of the year in my estimation working in this business for over 30 years in B.C. But we’ve had worse and we may likely have worse air quality as we go through the summer and more and more fires develop.” said Lundquist.

Prince George’s air quality index is currently at level 4 which is moderate, but it could reach to level 5 on Wednesday. Kamloops is seeing the worst right now at level 6, but it could reach level 8 which is a high health risk.

“I think we’re already in a bad situation, there’s already bad air quality that’s super concerning to me and I only think it’ll get worse as we get through the summer perhaps. I’m also worried about the sheer length of the heat.” said Lundquist.

Emergency Management B.C. is also expecting the air quality to worsen and are asking the public to avoid excess outdoor exposure.

“All of these strategies that we were doing during the extreme heat, it’s not cool enough and we need to watch the vulnerable not just for the air quality but also for this ongoing length of heat.” said Lundquist.

by Oli Herrera

Meteorologist worried air quality could worsen this year from wildfires

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