Have you noticed hazy skies and strange, striking sunsets in New Jersey? If you’ve seen the news lately, you know that the West Coast is dealing with devastating wildfires. Nearly 7 million acres have burned in the past few months and tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes. The scale of the fires is so massive that the smoke recently reached New Jersey, thousands of miles away. It’s currently making its way to Europe.
According to NJ.gov, New Jersey has hundreds of wildfires each year, burning between 5,000 and 7,000 acres in total.
Patrick Orton/Getty Images Recent fires have occurred along the Delaware Water Gap and Mount Tammany, and the Big Timber Fire, northeast of Vineland.
While that may sound substantial, it pales in comparison to California and Oregon’s fires.
Andrew Merry/Moment Collection/Getty Images The August Complex wildfire, California’s largest, burned over 877,477 acres.
Skies are red and orange across the country. It’s both beautiful and eerie.
Jennifer A. Smith/Moment Collection/Getty Images While the color may be striking, the air quality is detrimental to the health of locals.
The smoke from the wildfires reached New Jersey on Monday evening and may linger for days.
Tyler Hulett/Moment Collection/Getty Images The smoke is about 25,000-30,000 feet in the atmosphere, so how will it affect us? In terms of air quality, experts say not much. However, the smoke is diffusing the sun’s rays, meaning cooler temperatures.
While the wildfires will have little effect on us and the smoke may soon fade away, it is very possible that it will return if the fires continue to burn. Still, we likely won’t need to worry about air quality. We’re grateful for that, and doing what we can to help those out on the West Coast. Brave Firefighters with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service are assisting local emergency personnel to extinguish the deadly flames.
Patrick Orton/Getty Images
Recent fires have occurred along the Delaware Water Gap and Mount Tammany, and the Big Timber Fire, northeast of Vineland.
Andrew Merry/Moment Collection/Getty Images
The August Complex wildfire, California’s largest, burned over 877,477 acres.
Jennifer A. Smith/Moment Collection/Getty Images
While the color may be striking, the air quality is detrimental to the health of locals.
Tyler Hulett/Moment Collection/Getty Images
The smoke is about 25,000-30,000 feet in the atmosphere, so how will it affect us? In terms of air quality, experts say not much. However, the smoke is diffusing the sun’s rays, meaning cooler temperatures.
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