A while ago Susan and I went into town to receive booster injections of the bivalent vaccine for Covid-19. The injections made the total number of vaccinations against the virus enough that we received new CDC vaccination cards. We have kept up with the recommended vaccinations and, so far, have avoided becoming infected with the virus. The interesting thing that I noted about our short trip to the pharmacy and back was that I had forgotten to tuck a face mask into my pocket. Carrying a face mask everywhere I go has become a habit. On this particular day, I had changed my shirt to one without pockets in order to have short sleeves to make receiving the injection easier. In the process, I failed to pick up a mask from the supply on my dresser. It wasn’t a problem for us, because I realized my mistake as we pulled into the parking lot at the pharmacy and we keep extra masks in our car. I grabbed one and had one to wear when we went into the treatment room at the pharmacy.

Before the pandemic hit, we didn’t imagine that face masks would become part of our everyday lives. During the pandemic we became used to wearing face masks a lot. For many months our church required face masks for all in-person gatherings and we got used to wearing them to work, removing them only in our office when the door was closed and putting them back on each time we ventured out of the office.

It isn’t just at church, the use of face masks has decreased dramatically in recent months in the places we frequent. We still see persons wearing face masks at the grocery store and in other places and we have grown to accept that there are lots of reasons why people will continue to wear them. We would definitely wear masks whenever we experience any symptoms, including common colds and other illnesses. We also wear them when receiving medical care and when visiting health care facilities. I expect that face masks will continue to be a part of our lives and we will learn to carry them with us so that we always have access to one. If we encounter a person who is especially vulnerable or someone who has been feeling ill, the masks will come out. They have become much more accepted in our community since the pandemic.

All across the United States and Canada people are returning to regular mask use for a new reason in recent days. People have found them to be effective in protecting from discomfort caused by particulate-filled smoky skies. Conditions have brought heavy smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires to the entire norther tier of states. The smoke is so dense that hundreds of flights to and from New York City had to be cancelled due to poor visibility. News sources have been showing smoky skies in major cities across the US. Millions have been advised to mask up whenever they go outside to help alleviate danger from smoky skies. Just when people thought it was safe to go without masks, they are being advised to mask up once again.

So far we have not been affected by the smoke as much as other regions. Although we live just a few miles south of the border we have been experiencing winds from the west that bring fresh air from over the Pacific ocean to our skies. However, we can see the smoke. Our sunsets have been brilliantly colored due to smoke in the air and we notice the haze when looking to the mountains to the east or the islands to the west on our daily walks. Just a few miles east of our home friends commented that they could smell the smoke in the sky when they went outside yesterday.

If there is a question in any one’s mind that we are already experiencing the effects of climate change, the smoke should give them a clue. Extreme weather is becoming more frequent and more intense because of climate change. Heat waves are hotter and longer than used to be the case. A small increase in average temperatures has had a dramatic effect on the number of extremely hot days. When warm air builds up, high pressure holds the warmth closer to the surface of the air and the air next to the surface is compressed and gets even hotter. This phenomenon, known as a heat dome, is becoming more and more frequent and occurring earlier and later in the summer than was previously the case.

The result has been longer droughts in many places. This combined with increasing populations has stressed the global water supply. In parts of East Africa more than 20 million people are at risk of starvation caused by drought. Severe droughts are more than 100 times more likely than was the case a few years ago.

Wildfires, such as are raging across many provinces in Canada, are becoming more common. Global warming has made the weather conditions for large wildfires more likely. This has combined with the results of over extraction of timber from the world’s forests and stresses to forest health from a variety of causes to make wildfires more intense and more rapidly spreading than used to be the case. More fuel means bigger fires that spread at alarming rates.

Even though parts of the globe are suffering from more intense drought and the lack of rain helps fuel wildfire, other places are experiencing extreme rainfall. More heat means faster evaporation from oceans and lakes. More moisture in the sky forms larger cloud systems and some areas experience heavier rain. British Columbia, just to the north of our home, has experienced both extreme wildfires and flooding. The wildfires leave bear ground that is more prone to mudslides when the rains do come. Flooding has affected millions of people across the globe.

For now, we’re keeping a supply of face masks on hand and available for frequent use. It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to leave them behind anytime soon.