Washington, September 10: A plume of smoke from wildfires in California descended on the San Francisco area, causing the sky to turn orange. People woke up to darkened skies, disorientating some, who thought it was still night time. People took to Twitter to share images of the orange skies, one of them was ex-President Barack Obama.
He said, "The fires across the West Coast are just the latest examples of the very real ways our changing climate is changing our communities. Protecting our planet is on the ballot. Vote like your life depends on it—because it does." California Fire: Over 200 Trapped in Wildfire Airlifted by Military Helicopters.
Wildfires have burned more than 2.5 million acres in the state this year, killing at least eight people. On Wednesday, strong winds blew smoke and ash from some of those blazes in northern parts of the state.
Check Barack Obama's tweet sharing images of orange skies:
The fires across the West Coast are just the latest examples of the very real ways our changing climate is changing our communities. Protecting our planet is on the ballot. Vote like your life depends on it—because it does. pic.twitter.com/gKGegXWxQu
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 10, 2020
Bay Area Air Quality explained why the sky turned orange
The orange skies this morning are a result of wildfire smoke in the air. Strong winds over the past few days transported ash from fires in northern California and the Sierra Nevada into the region. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/IGFVDgGLpC
— Bay Area Air Quality (@AirDistrict) September 9, 2020
Bay Area air quality explained that the smoke particles scattered blue light and only allowed yellow-orange-red light to reach the surface, causing skies to look orange. "If smoke becomes too thick in a certain area, most of the light will be scattered & absorbed before reaching the surface, which may cause dark skies," it further said.
Last month, US President Donald Trump declared that the massive wildfires wreaking havoc across California, which have burnt over 1 million acres of land and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, were a major disaster and released federal aid.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2020 08:19 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).