Smoke over Michigan skies as western wildfires burn

By: ​Arpita Patel

Summary: ​My post is about seeing the orange haze over the Michigan clouds. This orange haze is due to the massive wildfires that are spreading through the Western side of the US. According to Stephanie Hengesbach, a meteorologist and air quality forecaster with EGLE, she claims that the smoke has transferred from the west through the clouds. Few of Michigan residents became concerned about the air quality and what the effects will be. An air quality test was then done The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s air quality forecast which showed that Michigan still has a healthy quality of breathable air. Stephanie Hengesbach also talks about what the Michigan residents should do for now and explains how the fires will have a grand effect on the air quality. She explains that as of now, residents don’t have to worry about air quality. In the future, if the fires get out of hand, the entire mid-west area can see a change in air quality. Of course, the weather pattern also plays a HUGE role in this. She explains it's super unlikely to happen any time soon but soon we can predict based on state weather and air quality. The blog also talks about climate change and could there be an event like this in Michigan. State Climatologist Jeff Andresen of Michigan State University described how we are already seeing climate change happen. The past five years have been Michigan’s wettest five-year period on record, Andresen said. Last year was the wettest since record-keeping began, with a statewide average precipitation of 41.8 inches—a full 10.7 inches above the long-term average. And with more rain comes more flooding and more loss of life and property. He has explained that we are seeing climate change and change in the rain since 2014. Since 2014, 2 major dams in Michigan broke open and damaged more than 900 homes, and cost $100 million in public infrastructure damages. His message to the Michigan people is that there may be a little smoke from the tinted sky, but we are already in a major climate change that is happening right now, and it is transforming our ecosystem. We need to worry about that instead of the tiny smoke that we see in the sky.

​Why we should care?  We should care about this topic because yes, it outlines the smoke from the Western side fires, but lays heavily on climate change that is occurring in Michigan. 

Photo Credit: National Weather Service in Gaylord

Example Article.
https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/smoke-over-michigan-skies-western-wildfires-burn

I found this article to be very interesting because of the title. I did not know that there were effects in Michigan from the fires out in the west. When I read the blog, I was shocked to hear that people are seeing a pinkish haze sky in the early morning hours and also a photo to prove the point. It also talks about the air quality and what this will mean for the Michigan residents. I also like this blog because it talks about Michigan climate changes that we are going through. With record heat and record rainfalls, it tells us, what we are doing wrong and how we can prevent all these events from happening.

Science in Action.
Kelly House is a write for Bridge Michigan.

​Kelly House covers all environmental issues for Bridge which is for Michigan. She has written articles about issues from public parks to Great Lakes anchor strikes to climate changes. This is relevant to my blog post because she works on all environmental issues Michigan is facing. Kelly House has been working for the Bridge since March of 2020. She also works with the residents of Michigan and helps them to raise their voice about our environmental issues and how we can speak against the government to tell them to do what’s right. She also writes blogs on how people can be safe for the COVID and ways we can prevent them.