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Climate

Is the Smoke Bad for My Plants?

And other burning questions about our precious flora.

Gardening and smoke.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

If trees are the lungs of the Earth, then it’s reasonable to wonder how the plants of the Northeastern United States are faring during this week’s record-breaking wildfire smoke event. Certainly, we oxygen-gulping inhabitants of their sister kingdom, Animalia, have seen better days: Wildfire smoke contains tiny particles known as PM2.5 that penetrate deep into our lungs, enter our bloodstreams, and cause irritation and inflammation while exacerbating life-threatening conditions and doing who-knows-what-else. For living beings with the evolutionary luxury of both bipedal mobility and frontal cortexes capable of inventing the air purifier, it is wise, if at all possible, to get out of the smoke and stay out.

Meanwhile, trees, home gardens, and the precious Finger Lakes vineyards had to stand and bear an Air Quality Index that topped 400 in places. So … are the plants okay?

First things first: Is the wine safe?!

Maybe you’ve heard of “smoke taint,” an effect that happens when the highly permeable skin of a grape absorbs wildfire smoke, causing the resulting wine to taste “sooty and dead.” Smoke taint has been a serious problem for vignerons in Washington and California as wildfire seasons have gotten worse. The good news is, in this particular case, it’s still early enough in the growing season that New York’s wine industry — the third largest in the nation — likely dodged a bullet.

“Even if it’s a fairly severe [smoke] exposure, the real risk starts after the bloom is finished and the berries start to form,” Dr. Tom Collins, an assistant professor of wine and grape chemistry at Washington State University, told me. “So if you have smoke events that occur after that time, then the risk goes up significantly.” But since New York grapevines are still pre-bloom, “they probably are not going to be hurt by this.”

Kyle Anne Pallischeck, the executive director of the Finger Lakes Wine Association, confirmed that “from conversations I’ve had, there isn’t much concern at this point” about the Canadian smoke impacting the season’s harvest. Phew.

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  • Is smoke bad for my garden?

    Smoke is made up of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter, the latter of which wreaks havoc on animal respiratory systems — which plants luckily don’t have. More importantly, plants use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and there’s some evidence that suggests wildfire smoke as a result might increase plant productivity.

    Additionally, the same researchers found that smoke potentially allows plants to use sunlight more efficiently since the smoke diffuses light: “Whereas direct sunlight might fall mainly on upper foliage, leaving the rest of a plant in shade, diffuse light can reach a greater number of photosynthesizing leaves throughout the vegetation canopy,” Eos explains. (Other research indicates photosynthesis might drop because of reduced light intensity, though this likely only matters if it happens for a prolonged period of time in the window where a crop is ripening).

    Smoke, however, is much worse for plants when it’s from a nearby source since the ash can clog stomatal pores, effectively choking the plant. But while the smoke event in the East still “looks awful [and] it still smells awful, it’s not going to have as big an impact on local agriculture,” Collins said, because the fires are hundreds of miles away. By the time the smoke reaches most of the U.S., “a lot of the things that are most problematic to plants have begun to fall out or are reacted in the atmosphere into things that are less impactful.”

    Is it safe to eat produce from plants that were outside during the smoke event?

    You worked hard to cultivate your dramatic little strawberry plant and you should get to enjoy your harvest, darn it! But maybe watching the plant endure all that yellow air has ruined your appetite.

    You don’t have to hold back, though. Smoke likely won’t have penetrated deep into the plant and washing it off well is probably the biggest precaution you’ll need to take before you enjoy it. Of course, use your best judgment: If your plant is covered in a fine layer of ash, you don’t want to put it in your mouth (“When it doubt, throw it out,” the Oregon State University concurs).

    You can also be extra safe by soaking fruits and veggies in a white vinegar solution at a ratio of one teaspoon of vinegar to three cups of water.

    Should I be taking care of my garden right now?

    Farm workers are one of the highest-risk groups for short- and long-term health effects from wildfires due to their strenuous outdoor labor that can’t often be put off. But if you have the ability to opt out of tending to your garden for a few days when the AQI is this bad, then yes, absolutely opt out.

    Read more about the wildfire smoke engulfing the eastern United States:

    Why Are the Canadian Wildfires So Bad This Year?

    How to Stay Safe from Wildfire Smoke Indoors

    Wildfire Smoke Is a Wheezy Throwback for New York City

    Wednesday Was the Worst Day for Wildfire Pollution in U.S. History

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    Adaptation

    The ‘Buffer’ That Can Protect a Town from Wildfires

    Paradise, California, is snatching up high-risk properties to create a defensive perimeter and prevent the town from burning again.

    Homes as a wildfire buffer.
    Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

    The 2018 Camp Fire was the deadliest wildfire in California’s history, wiping out 90% of the structures in the mountain town of Paradise and killing at least 85 people in a matter of hours. Investigations afterward found that Paradise’s town planners had ignored warnings of the fire risk to its residents and forgone common-sense preparations that would have saved lives. In the years since, the Camp Fire has consequently become a cautionary tale for similar communities in high-risk wildfire areas — places like Chinese Camp, a small historic landmark in the Sierra Nevada foothills that dramatically burned to the ground last week as part of the nearly 14,000-acre TCU September Lightning Complex.

    More recently, Paradise has also become a model for how a town can rebuild wisely after a wildfire. At least some of that is due to the work of Dan Efseaff, the director of the Paradise Recreation and Park District, who has launched a program to identify and acquire some of the highest-risk, hardest-to-access properties in the Camp Fire burn scar. Though he has a limited total operating budget of around $5.5 million and relies heavily on the charity of local property owners (he’s currently in the process of applying for a $15 million grant with a $5 million match for the program) Efseaff has nevertheless managed to build the beginning of a defensible buffer of managed parkland around Paradise that could potentially buy the town time in the case of a future wildfire.

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    How the Tax Bill Is Empowering Anti-Renewables Activists

    A war of attrition is now turning in opponents’ favor.

    Massachusetts and solar panels.
    Heatmap Illustration/Library of Congress, Getty Images

    A solar developer’s defeat in Massachusetts last week reveals just how much stronger project opponents are on the battlefield after the de facto repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act.

    Last week, solar developer PureSky pulled five projects under development around the western Massachusetts town of Shutesbury. PureSky’s facilities had been in the works for years and would together represent what the developer has claimed would be one of the state’s largest solar projects thus far. In a statement, the company laid blame on “broader policy and regulatory headwinds,” including the state’s existing renewables incentives not keeping pace with rising costs and “federal policy updates,” which PureSky said were “making it harder to finance projects like those proposed near Shutesbury.”

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    The Midwest Is Becoming Even Tougher for Solar Projects

    And more on the week’s most important conflicts around renewables.

    The United States.
    Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

    1. Wells County, Indiana – One of the nation’s most at-risk solar projects may now be prompting a full on moratorium.

    • Late last week, this county was teed up to potentially advance a new restrictive solar ordinance that would’ve cut off zoning access for large-scale facilities. That’s obviously bad for developers. But it would’ve still allowed solar facilities up to 50 acres and grandfathered in projects that had previously signed agreements with local officials.
    • However, solar opponents swamped the county Area Planning Commission meeting to decide on the ordinance, turning it into an over four-hour display in which many requested in public comments to outright ban solar projects entirely without a grandfathering clause.
    • It’s clear part of the opposition is inflamed over the EDF Paddlefish Solar project, which we ranked last year as one of the nation’s top imperiled renewables facilities in progress. The project has already resulted in a moratorium in another county, Huntington.
    • Although the Paddlefish project is not unique in its risks, it is what we view as a bellwether for the future of solar development in farming communities, as the Fort Wayne-adjacent county is a picturesque display of many areas across the United States. Pro-renewables advocates have sought to tamp down opposition with tactics such as a direct text messaging campaign, which I previously scooped last week.
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    • Also worth noting: anyone could see from Heatmap Pro data that this county would be an incredibly difficult fight for a solar developer. Despite a slim majority of local support for renewable energy, the county has a nearly 100% opposition risk rating, due in no small part to its large agricultural workforce and MAGA leanings.

    2. Clark County, Ohio – Another Ohio county has significantly restricted renewable energy development, this time with big political implications.

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