{"668534":{"#nid":"668534","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Canadian Wildfire Smoke Affects Atlanta","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E(This story was first published in the Georgia Tech News Center. Read the full news story \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2023\/07\/19\/canadian-wildfire-smoke-affects-atlanta-2\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAtlanta is seeing some of the worst air quality in the nation, and the culprit is actually thousands of miles away.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMore than\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/07\/18\/us\/smoke-wildfires-nc-georgia.html\u0022\u003E900 wildfires blazing in Canada\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;are creating smoke and dust particles that are being carried by the jet stream all the way down to the Deep South. Georgia Tech scientists and researchers are watching closely.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWildfires themselves aren\u2019t uncommon. But what\u0026nbsp;is different and, at times, dangerous is the number of particles in the air.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt is unusual to experience high concentrations of smoke aerosols within the contiguous U.S. such as what we have been observing recently,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/people\/handlos-dr-zachary\u0022\u003EZachary Handlos\u003C\/a\u003E, meteorologist and senior academic professional in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Eat\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca\u003EGeorgia Tech.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFine particulate matter (also known as PM2.5) levels exceeded 55 micrograms per cubic meter of air south of Atlanta. This is the reason for the recent air quality alerts, which indicated that the air quality in metro Atlanta sat in the orange zone Monday and Tuesday, meaning the air has been potentially hazardous for the most at-risk people.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOlder persons, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with preexisting health conditions are among the most vulnerable populations. However, anyone can be affected by poor air quality.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPM2.5 is fine enough to penetrate deep into the lungs,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ce.gatech.edu\/directory\/person\/m-talat-odman\u0022\u003ETalat Odman\u003C\/a\u003E, principal research engineer and air quality expert from the Georgia Tech\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ce.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;School of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBoth Odman and Handlos say an N95 mask can be a big help in filtering out this particulate matter. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.gatech.edu\/news\/2023\/07\/19\/canadian-wildfire-smoke-affects-atlanta-2\u0022\u003ERead more\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Georgia Tech experts, including a School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences meteorologist, keep an eye on Atlanta air quality issues thanks to Canadian wildfires. "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech experts, including Zachary Handlos of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, keep watch for dangerous air quality issues in Atlanta spurred by smoke from hundreds of wildfires ablaze in Canada.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech experts, including a School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences meteorologist, keep an eye on Atlanta air quality issues thanks to Canadian wildfires. "}],"uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-07-20 17:37:44","changed_gmt":"2024-02-01 15:12:34","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2023-07-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"671192":{"id":"671192","type":"image","title":"Atlanta\u0027s skyline turned hazy this week thanks to Canadian wildfires.png","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAtlanta\u0027s skyline turned hazy this week thanks to Canadian wildfires\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1689874683","gmt_created":"2023-07-20 17:38:03","changed":"1689874683","gmt_changed":"2023-07-20 17:38:03","alt":"Atlanta\u0027s skyline turned hazy this week thanks to Canadian wildfires","file":{"fid":"254208","name":"Atlanta\u0027s skyline turned hazy this week thanks to Canadian wildfires..png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/20\/Atlanta%27s%20skyline%20turned%20hazy%20this%20week%20thanks%20to%20Canadian%20wildfires..png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/07\/20\/Atlanta%27s%20skyline%20turned%20hazy%20this%20week%20thanks%20to%20Canadian%20wildfires..png","mime":"image\/png","size":1622511,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/07\/20\/Atlanta%27s%20skyline%20turned%20hazy%20this%20week%20thanks%20to%20Canadian%20wildfires..png?itok=3dBnDbQ0"}}},"media_ids":["671192"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"364801","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (EAS)"},{"id":"1316","name":"Green Buzz"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"166926","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"184642","name":"Zachary Handlos"},{"id":"187941","name":"smoke aerosols"},{"id":"147191","name":"wildfires"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESteven Norris\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector, Media Relations and Social Media\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["snorris@gatech.edu","snorris@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}