Will orange skies convince people to act on climate change?
"I’m not so sure it’s necessary for people to believe climate change is occurring. The issue is whether they believe in transitioning to renewable energy."
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When I went to the Minnesota Twins game Wednesday afternoon, their downtown Minneapolis ballpark was shrouded in smoke. Not only was the sight eerie, but it was dangerous. AQI pollution levels that day hit records for the metro area, and after sitting outside in those conditions for a few hours, I went to bed that night with a splitting headache.
This wasn’t an isolated case. A week ago, social media was flooded with pictures of orange skies in New York and Washington DC when smoke from wildfires in Canada was blown into states on the East Coast. And we’ll see more smoky skies over the country this summer — even as soon as this weekend — as wildfires continue to rage Canada and temperatures rise heading into July and August.
Climate change contributes to an increase in wildfires, and it makes them worse. As things stand, about 54 percent of Americans view climate change as a major threat. Will orange skies make people more concerned about climate change and more interested in doing something about it?