Fires in California: what is smoke made of and how is it dangerous?

For several years in a row on our planetfires are raging destroying everything in their path. In 2019, a huge part of Siberian forests burned down, and this year the forests of the American state of California are burning. It is reported that at the moment the flames have engulfed an area of ​​more than 500 square kilometers and destroyed hundreds of buildings. And this despite the fact that another 125 thousand structures are at risk. At the time of this writing, the fires have killed at least six people, so the authorities have declared an emergency and are trying to evacuate the population. In social networks, residents of California write that everything that happens is like the end of the world: not only are forests and buildings burning, but firestorms are also visible on the horizon. But what caused the numerous fires and what difficulties did the rescuers face?

Wildfires are raging in California right now

Causes of fires

Fires in California began due to the fact thatfor a long time, there was a 37-degree heat on its territory. In addition, over 11 thousand lightning strikes occurred there in a few days. The combination of all these factors has led to the emergence of hundreds of fires throughout the American state. California Governor Gavin Newsom says he has never seen a fire like this. The governor linked their occurrence to global warming:

If you still don't believe the news about climate change, then come to California, Gavin announced on his Twitter.

Fires are extinguished in all possible ways, but there are clearly not enough rescuers

The authorities are evacuating local residents, but there are twoProblems. First, there are a lot of people and there are not enough cars for all. Secondly, in California, more than 600 thousand cases of coronavirus infection have been recorded, so it is important to take precautions.

In early 2020, fires destroyed many of Australia's forests. Will they be able to recover?

What is a fire tornado?

According to social media users,the situation looks even worse at the sight of fire tornadoes. This terrible natural phenomenon occurs when several fires are combined. When several fires combine, the air above them becomes very hot. Interacting with cold air, the air heated to 500-800 degrees Celsius begins to rotate at a hurricane speed. Everything in the vicinity of the fire tornado begins to burn and melt. In general, this is a rather rare phenomenon, but it is in 2020 that it occurs.

And this is how lightning looked during thunderstorms in California. I haven't seen this before, have you? Write in our Telegram chat.

Ashes are not that dangerous to humansorganism as particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers. They are 50 times smaller than grains of sand, so they cannot be "caught" by the defense systems of our body and easily penetrate the bloodstream. So, if you sit by the fire for a long time, over time you can start coughing up phlegm, which may well be with black particles - this is the result of the body's defense mechanisms. But microscopic particles penetrate much deeper and are sometimes destroyed by macrophage cells, but with prolonged exposure, the body ceases to cope with them.

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To protect against the harmful effects of smoke fromforest fires, recommends carefully monitoring the information on the state of the air. As a rule, if the pollution levels rise above the norm, this is reported in the news. But California residents now have no opportunity to sit comfortably at home. They can only protect themselves from harmful effects with the help of protective masks - best of all, microparticles are filtered by N95 respirators.