Dangers of Wildfires!
Listening | English and Chinese scripts are provided below and you can understand the content easier. https://www.youtube.com/@UpgradeEnglish
How do wildfires start? Are they caused by natural occurrences?
Wildfires are caused by lightning or human activities such as sparks from machinery, dumped cigarette butts, unattended campfires or arson.
Why do forest fires burn more frequent and more widespread now?
According to some studies, global warming causes the increase of frequency of extreme heat waves. Hence, more lightning strikes occur. After starting fires in different locations, forest fires grow and extend bigger.
How do wildfires affect air quality and our health?
Smoke is produced when wildfires burn in the forests. Such smoke consisting of toxic gases e.g., carbon monoxide which is a pollutant of the air. It adversely affects our health.
If I do not live close to the wildfire zone, can I rest assured that I’ll not breathe in the hazardous smoke?
That’s not necessarily correct. The smoke may be carried thousands of kilometres from the zone. Hence, you may feel unwell.
What types of people should take extra note of their health when facing with forest fires?
The sensitive groups include elders, teenagers, pregnant women, smokers and asthma sufferers. Those harmful pollutants worsen the lungs, heart and brain.
Why do we get prepared if we live in an area at higher risk for wildfires?
Those harmful pollutants are tiny particles. If we breathe them in, they’ll be absorbed by our lungs and the bloodstream. Hence, we should protect ourselves and family e.g. burning eyes, running nose before the smoke arrives.
What should we do when wildfire season approaches?
Smoke can come into buildings through windows, doors and vents. We may consider to buy a portable air cleaner which can remove those tiny particles effectively from the air. It’s useful to maintain cleaner indoor air.
In addition, we should keep a stock of respirator masks which can filter out those particles in the smoke. Please be reminded that a surgical mask cannot protect our lungs from the smoke.
How can we identify that there is wildfire smoke close to my house?
We may notice a haze in the air and the smoke smells like burning plastic. We should also pay attention to the air quality update, public health message and warning from the news.
CHINESE SCRIPT
森林火災是如何引起的？它們是自然現象造成的嗎？
森林火災是由閃電或人類活動引起的，例如：機器產生的火花、丟下的煙頭、無人看管的營火或縱火。
為什麼現在的森林火災更頻繁、範圍更廣？
一些研究表明，全球暖化導致極端熱浪出現的頻率增加，因此，更多的雷擊發生，在不同地點起火後，森林火災會變得越來越大。
森林火災如何影響空氣質素和我們的健康？
於森林中野火燃燒時會產生煙霧，這種由有毒氣體（例如：一氧化碳）組成的煙霧是空氣污染物，它對我們的健康產生不利影響。
如果我不住在森林火災區附近，我能放心不會吸入有害煙霧嗎？
這不一定是正確的，煙霧可能會被帶到遠離該地區數千公里的地方，因此，您可能會感到不適。
面對森林火災，哪類型的人需要特別注意自己的健康？
敏感群組包括長者、青少年、孕婦、吸煙者和哮喘病患者，這些有害污染物會使肺部、心臟和腦部惡化。
如果我們住在野火風險較高的地區，為什麼我們要做好準備？
這些有害污染物是微小的顆粒，如果我們吸入它們，它們就會被我們的肺部和血液吸收。因此，我們應該在煙霧到來之前，保護自己和家人，例如眼睛灼痛、流鼻水。
山火季節臨近時，我們該做什麼？
煙霧可以透過門窗和通風口進入建築物，我們可以考慮購買便攜式空氣清淨器，它可以有效去除空氣中的微小顆粒，保持室內空氣清潔很有用。
此外，我們應該儲備一些可以過濾煙霧中微小顆粒的呼吸面罩，請注意，外科口罩無法保護我們的肺部免受煙霧侵害。
我們如何辨識我家附近有森林火災的煙霧？
我們可能會注意到空氣中瀰漫著薄霧，煙霧聞起來像燃燒的塑膠。我們還應該關注新聞中的空氣質素更新、公共衛生資訊和警告。