Los Angeles Air Dirty As India’s
The air quality index in Los Angeles rose as high as 200 based on the AirIQ index. That is comparable to the level in India or Pakistan. Those air pollution levels drive high mortality rates and serious lung and heart illness.
Reuters reports that this danger is immediate. “This week, as the wildfires raged and smoke billowed across Los Angeles, officials issued air quality alerts, schools canceled classes and scientists warned about the dangerous – even fatal – consequences of wildfire smoke.”
A consequence of these fires which is not mentioned often is the cost to treat these health problems both long and short term. People with pre-existing conditions may suffer from damage that is permanent. People with healthy lungs may require shorter term treatment. In either case, the dollar toll of wildfires goes beyond property.
Insurance Costs
Air pollution effect on humans is another strain to the already breaking insurance industry which does business in weather disaster prone areas. Some insurance companies have dropped home insurance. Whether they can do the same targeting geographically has become an issue.
One of the forecasts financial firms will need to make about health in areas with rising climate disasters is how often they will happen and how severe they will be.
More from ClimateCrisis 247
- Washington, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Vermont Have Their Hottest Year
- Cloud Seeding Won’t Help Los Angeles
- Los Angeles $1.29 Trillion GDP At Risk
- Cars Explode In LA Fires, Creating New Danger
