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Orange Sky and Smoke-Filled Air Over New York
I have seen a lot of comments on Facebook like “Gee, what an amazing photo.” People are reacting to the orange skies hovering above the mid-Atlantic states as if it were an early, or late, Easter surprise. I want to kick these people, to be honest with you.
Admittedly, the image is amazing. It is eery if not scary and it belongs on a movie poster with a title like The Night They Came or a name more final, hinting at the imminent end of something big.
The image is not something we should all be oohing and ahhing about, though like it was an impressive culmination to a 4th of July fireworks show viewed from the Walmart parking lot. This orange sky might be a first for New York but it certainly won’t be a last.
The fires in Canada are not just fires, folks. They are proof that the world’s climate is rapidly reaching not so much the point of no return, that point was reached long ago, but the point where life will become increasingly less livable with each extreme climate event. We are reaching the point where climate change will begin to slowly deteriorate our health and then in the blink of an eye, more days than not will be ones defined as hazardous to our health.
