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Mark-John Clifford

The Drought! The Pollution! What's Up Fresno?

2021-05-05

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Central Valley Air PollutionCourthouse News

The Draught

If you didn't know, we're in a drought right now, and it isn't going to get better. It needs to, but that's not happening.

To give you just a little information about how this drought affects us and our environment, recently, over 16.8 million pounds of salmon have been moved by trucks to the California coast.

The reason is the drought and poor river conditions. The water will be too warm and too low, inhibiting the fish from traveling downstream.

So off to the ocean they go.

Considering these are all baby salmon, the Department of California Fish and Wildlife has learned over the past 15 years what is needed for them to survive and thrive when releasing salmon into our waters.

This year the amount of salmon transported from four hatcheries from the Central Valley was 20% higher than in other years when a drought has occurred.

This issue should raise some concerns.

Air Pollution and Dust

The winds are blowing strong, and the dust is flying, which causes health issues with residents.

The warring issued will last until Monday and is for the San Joaquin Valley, especially the upper northern areas of Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin.

All of this comes down to significant health issues for residents with asthma, heart conditions, and other respiratory problems, which, when triggers, can cause asthma attacks and bronchitis and an increase in respiratory symptoms.

What's in the air that causes these concerns? It's called particulate pollution.

Particulate pollution consists of particles suspended in a medium, like air. There are three forms of particulate matter, atmospheric matter, marine matter or debris, and space matter or debris.

The particles can be released via chemical reactions as well as a specific source in our atmosphere. The particulate pollution can and usually is obtained from natural or anthropogenic resources.

Breathing these particles can cause respiratory symptoms that range from coughing and acute breathing issues, asthma, irritation of our airways. It also can cause irregular heartbeats, lung cancer over time, kidney disease, premature death in people who suffer from cardiovascular and lung disease, and chronic bronchitis.

The severity of all of these health issues depends on the size of the particles and the length of time that we breathe them into our system.

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Fire Season is HereLA Times

Fire Season

We can't leave out one of the more critical issues we face in the coming months affecting our lives and pollution.

Fire season is here, and the experts are looking at this season as being the worst.

After a meeting this past week of fire professionals, they issued Red Flag warnings earlier than in past years.

"Every acre in California can and will burn someday," said CAL FIRE Director Thom Porter.

Over four million acres burned last year due to six of the most devastating fires in California's history. Due to those fires, 32 counties cams under presidential disaster protection.

This winter was a disappointment to the state due to the limited snowfall in the mountains, especially in the Central Valley, which needs water to survive for crops and animals and protect them and residents from fire.

What's being done to prepare for this season? Cal Fire is staffing early by adding hundreds of firefighters and five new helicopters to aid in firefighting activities. However, they still are asking the public to do their part in preventing fires.

Thanks to the follwing agenices for the provided information:

  • California Department of Fish & Wildlife
  • North Central Region Hatchery
  • San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
  • ABC 7 News
  • CAL FIRE
  • U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region

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