The report shows steps some states are taking to protect their communities and suggests actions individuals can take if they know they are in a high-smoke period.
“Families can lessen the health risks from smoke by staying indoors or limiting outside physical activity,” Knowlton said. “You can keep smoke levels low inside the house by closing the windows and running the air conditioner on ‘recirculate’.
“We also need better monitoring and early-warning systems for growing health threats, so people will know when the air is unhealthy for vulnerable groups. That’s part of making climate change preparedness a national priority. With fire, smoke and other air pollution threats increasingly affected by climate change, all states should be putting health protections in their climate adaptation plans.
“Finally, we must engage in prevention,” said Knowlton. “Climate change threatens the health of every American. We have an obligation to them and future generations we cannot shy from. The president has outlined a plan that rightly takes aim at the heart of the problem, and it deserves our support.”
Check the following link to read/download the Full Report:
http://www.nrdc.org/health/impacts-of-wildfire-smoke/files/wildfire-smoke-IB.pdf
Source: NRDC.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international non-profit environmental organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists. Since 1970, their lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Livingston, Montana, and Beijing. For more information, visit www.nrdc.org.
