NATS 1515 : History of environment

Over the past 5 years, there have been two major events that have influenced

Toronto’s air quality insignificant ways: wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. With wildfires on the rise in 2023, transport of wildfire smoke plumes to the GTA resulted in the air quality in the city being the worst that has been in decades. Conversely, the COVID-19 pandemic came with a variety of lockdowns and work-from-home protocols that reduced the number of carson the roads and buildings in operation, resulting in some unprecedented improvements to air quality. In this assignment, you will investigate both of these events and the impact they had on major pollutants that can influence the health of both the environment and the residents of the GTA.

Learning Outcomes

•    Review the chemical pollutants found in a wildfire smoke plume and an urban environment and the impact they have on human health

•   Analyze real air quality datasets provided by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 and wildfires on Toronto’sair quality

•   Assess the Air Quality Health Index and identify how it is used to warn the public of poor air quality

Part A: Impact of Wildfires on Toronto’s Air Quality (Total = 12 marks)

1. A common pollutant found in most wildfire smoke plumes is particulate matter   (PM2.5) created during the burning of the wood and other organic material. This  PM2.5 plays a significant role in the poor air quality that cities endure when faced with a wildfire smoke plume. What are the human health impacts of PM2.5 exposure? What other pollutants (provide a minimum of 3) can be found in the smoke plume of a wildfire and what are their associated human health impacts? Create a table like the one below to organize your answer. (3 marks)

2.  a) Since PM2.5 is found in such significant quantities in wildfire smoke plumes, high concentrations of it are often used to identify the presence of a smoke plume in  a  region  (PM2.5    is  called  a  wildfire tracer).  We  are  going  to  investigate concentration data of PM2.5  collected by Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) to identify days/times impacted by wildfire smoke plumes in Toronto.

Goto aweb browser and type in: www.airqualityontario.com. On the left panle, click on “Pollutant Concentrations”, it will direct you to a table (which can also be viewed as a  map) displaying the concentrations of  pollutants at the various stations.  Select  the  station “Toronto  North”  (a  station  very  close  to  York University) and the browser will re-direct you to a new page providing information on the  pollutants  collected  at  the  specific  station.  Select “Hourly  Pollutant Charts” from the list on the left to visualize the concentrations of pollutants on an hourly timescale. You can visualize a variety of pollutants, but for our purpose select the Pollutant “Particulate Matter (PM2.5)” and set the Day, Month and Year to 01, June, 2023, respectively. Click “Refresh Page” .

In the month of June 2023, wildfire smoke plumes impacted Toronto’s air quality. Using the dataset for PM2.5 for Toronto North in June 2023, identify which days you think Toronto was faced with a wildfire smoke plume. Explain your choice(s).(2 marks)

b) Using the  internet, find which day(s)  in June 2023 Toronto was actually impacted by wildfire smoke plumes. Were the dates you identified in 2.a) using PM2.5 as a wildfire tracer correct? What other sources of PM2.5  are common in Toronto that could have influenced its concentration in the city? (1 mark)

3. Return to: www.airqualityontario.com. On the left panel, click on “Air Quality Health Index (AQHI)”, then click on “Table: AQHI Observations by Location”. At the top of the screen, select the dates that Toronto was dealing with the wildfire smoke plumes in June 2023. What was the AQHI for the Toronto North location for those day(s) at 3:00pm? What risk was associated with this AQHI and what are the associated health messages for both at risk and general populations? (2 marks)

4.  a) How many hectares of land in Canada were burned in 2023 as a result of forest fires? How did this number compare to previous years? (1.5 marks)

b) What (if any) influence has climate change played in the occurrence/frequency of forest fires world-wide? Explain your answer. (1 mark)

c) Briefly discuss the impacts of wildfires on the environment (can  be  both positive and negative). Include at least 3 impacts. (1.5 marks)