The last few summers in Seattle, as anyone who ever leaves the house will remember, have been plagued by wildfire smoke. For weeks at a time, the sky turns an apocalyptic shade of orange and breathing feels like you smoked a pack of Pall Malls and stuck your head in a wood-burning stove. It’s not pleasant, and those of us in the largely un-air-conditioned Pacific Northwest are forced to choose between breathing in ash or shutting our windows and sweltering. Instead of feeling like paradise, Seattle starts to feel dirty and evil.
With a record-breaking 239 fires in Western Washington in 2019 by the beginning of May, it’s going to be a very dirty and evil summer.
Last summer, the air quality in Seattle was, at times, worse than anywhere else in the world. There are obvious health consequences to this, especially for the elderly and the infirm, but these fires don’t just take a toll on our physical health—they’re also bad for our mental health.
