skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Health Survey: Where There's Smoke, There's Confusion

play audio
Play

Monday, November 11, 2019   

BOISE, Idaho – Wildfires are a threat in the West, but their smoke is even more deadly, researchers say.

However, a new survey shows Idahoans don't necessarily see it that way.

Researchers at Boise State University surveyed Gem State residents and found 90% have experienced at least one symptom associated with smoke, such as itchy eyes, and 80% said it's a natural hazard.

Report co-author Moji Sadegh, an assistant professor of civil engineering at BSU, says this might lead one to believe people are planning for how to deal with smoke.

"But what we found is about 45% or so, they're not sure whether they're going to take future preventive actions to reduce the wildfire smoke impact,” he states. “So still, there is this education need that we need to work on."

The survey also found about 40% of people said they didn't receive air quality notifications during the 2017 wildfire season.

However, Sadegh notes Idahoans are interested in receiving text messages or alerts about smoke the day before it arrives, to help them plan accordingly.

Worldwide, about 340,000 people die each year from the health effects of landscape fire smoke.

Jen Pierce, another report co-author and an associate professor of geosciences at BSU, says the most dangerous effects aren't necessarily from smoke that can be seen.

"Smoke, and especially those really small particles from wildfires, are actually the size particles that really do damage to lungs, but those aren't necessarily what people can see and smell," she points out.

Wildfires are expected to increase due to climate change.

Pierce says there still is a perception in inland states that only coastal areas will be affected, mostly from rising sea levels. But she says smoke and wildfires are one way the changing climate is affecting Idaho.

"It's not something that's going to happen in the future,” she states. “It's something that's happening now.

“And so that is where, as communities, we need to understand how to respond to these threats and build resilience in our communities to both fire and smoke."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…


Data show Oak Ridge residents pay $2.67 million in taxes toward nuclear weapons programs. (fizkes/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Social Issues

play sound

This year's high school graduates will be eligible for 14,000 new scholarships offered through Opportunity Next Colorado, a $21 million investment …

The new law will apply only to future sales of Indiana farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

Environment

play sound

Traffic deaths are trending higher in Minnesota this year after a decline the previous year. Groups pushing for safer roads are convinced a small …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021