29 By adding data from CalEnviroScreen 4.0, a landmark mapping tool created by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the map allowed the team to visualize the vulnerable populations that may be adversely affected by poor air quality. By animating historical pollution data, for instance during the July 4th holiday, they could also depict the impacts that fireworks smoke may be having on certain populations. EPA and USFS researchers continue to improve their maps. Last year, the agencies enhanced the sensor data correction equation, added a Spanish version, and included a feature called ColorVision Assist, which makes the map accessible to color-blind people. Users can now save sensors to a “favorite” list and see fire perimeters on the map when they click on a fire incident. In addition to improving the public’s understanding of air quality conditions during wildfires, the map and the correction equation are helping PurpleAir improve its data. The EPA has encouraged other air quality device makers to continue improving their systems and hinted at the possibility that their data could also appear on the map. The agency is also pushing for even better national coverage of air quality and for more monitoring on the local, municipal, and tribal level. As researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found, PurpleAir’s sensors tend to be more common in wealthier communities with lower air pollution. To help fill in the gaps, in 2022, the agency began distributing air quality monitors to 132 underserved localities, as part of an historic $53 million federal investment in local air monitoring. Wildfires are becoming more frequent and more intense, powered by warming conditions that allow for more fuel to burn. As the fires on Maui demonstrated, the effects can be deadly, wiping a whole town off the map. But the impacts from smoke extend far beyond fires. During the wildfire season of 2020, more than half of California’s population spent a month or more breathing in “unhealthy” or “hazardous” air. If we can better track the smoke and smog, researchers hope, we might be better at protecting our communities. Dynamic maps of changing conditions may encourage more people to purchase sensors to fill in data gaps, too. When this snapshot of the Fire and Smoke Map was captured on August 22, 2023, widespread haze can be seen from Canadian wildfires and fires in the Southeast and Pacific Northwest. Climate Action
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA2NTE0Mw==