Smoke covers Northwest; People of Color suffer most

The view in my area is apocalyptic. A couple of days ago, when the smoke first rolled in, one could still see the Sun. It was possible to stare at it directly, with no harm to one’s eyes:

copyright Jewamongyou 2020

Today, the haze is so thick that it’s not possible to detect the Sun at all. Usually, it’s possible to escape to the coast, or the mountains, to escape poor air-quality – but not now; there is no place to escape to, short of hopping in an airplane and flying far away.

But we can take comfort in the fact that Microsoft News has helpful advice:

The MSN article actually come from the New York Times. In any event, if you read the article, it soon becomes apparent that it’s not about “protecting yourself from poor air quality at all.” That part of the article only comes at the very end, and provides little useful information: Stay indoors, and wear a mask if you must venture outside, and don’t smoke.

The real meat of the article comes in the middle:

The risks are greater for people of color, who tend to live in areas already exposed to high levels of particulate pollution. According to a 2017 study, older Black people are three times more likely to be hospitalized for respiratory conditions because of smoke.

Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics at Harvard and an author of the study, said, “Underrepresented minorities are experiencing a much higher health burden from pollution and wildfire smoke and, now, Covid.”

The coronavirus pandemic, which has also hit people of color disproportionately, adds further problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that “people with Covid-19 are at increased risk from wildfire smoke during the pandemic.”

Yes, the authors (Nicole Perlroth and John Schwartz) dedicate 3 paragraphs elaborating how “people of color” suffer more.

Naturally, they also used the opportunity to pontificate about Climate Change.

Yes, this is propaganda, but it’s also bait and switch.

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