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- Currently in Boston — June 16, 2023: Gross weekend ahead.
Currently in Boston — June 16, 2023: Gross weekend ahead.
Plus, the UN Secretary General calls for a global phase-out of fossil fuels
Eric Holthaus & Dave Epstein
June 15, 2023
The weather, currently.
Nice day Friday but abysmal weekend ahead.
There was plenty of sunshine for our Thursday afternoon and Friday will also start with a fair amount of bright blue sky. Temperatures in the afternoon will reach the upper 70s and lower '80s. That blue sky will likely become hazy as more smoke from Canadian forest fires crosses the area. The weekend is not looking good weather wise. Some storminess will bring clouds and showers to the area especially on Saturday. Temperatures will only be in the 60s to maybe near 70 well inland. There could be thunderstorms and a few downpours as well. Sunday continues unsettled although probably not quite as wet It still won't be a bright sunny day. Readings will stay in the 60s.
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What you need to know, currently.
New data show marginalized New Yorkers were affected the most from wildfire smoke during this month’s orange skies — the worst wildfire-related pollution event in recorded US history.
Asthma ER visits surged in NYC by 10% during the period from June 7-9 when the smoke was the worst, and followed a demographic pattern that is too-familiar when it comes to racial and income disparities in public health and climate.
Here’s Arya Sundaram, from Gothamist:
The foul air from Canada’s wildfires was bad all over, but the impact hit hardest in neighborhoods in northern Manhattan, the Bronx, central Brooklyn, and the Rockaways, which had the highest number of asthma-related emergency department visits, according to the data.
Between Tuesday, when the city’s air quality reached unhealthy levels, and Saturday there were over 1,000 asthma-related emergency department visits across the city, according to data from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. That’s a 10% jump from the same period last year.
Some 70% of the asthma-related visits during the period were in ZIP codes with predominantly Black or Hispanic residents. And 60% were in ZIP codes with higher poverty rates than the city overall.
Compounding health effects from pollution and climate change fall hardest on communities of color for many reasons, writes Gina Jiménez from Inside Climate News: They are often pushed to live in polluted neighborhoods due to racist housing policies, they are less likely to be able to access preventative health care due to lack of funding, and suffer climate-related mental health problems more acutely as a result.
Climate equity is the same thing as racial equity.
What you can do, currently.
Welcome to the new-and-improved Currently!
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Thank you for taking this exciting journey with us!
—Eric Holthaus