The Turn Away From Flares: Small-Scale Drone Shows Can Help Avoid Burning, Induced Public Health Concerns
It may be too early to tell how the burgeoning trend in alternatives at the city level may trickle down to smaller shows and consumers, but price is a limiting factor: those high-tech displays are expensive.
The minimum price for a show is $10,000 according to the company Hire UAV Pro which has conducted shows for events like Coachella.
Trying something new has been met with mixed reaction from the community but, as Kingdom says, the turn away from fireworks, “is considered by many to be the way of the future.”
But data also shows that much of the wildfire risk comes not from grand public displays, but from the small-scale shows set off on streets and sidewalks.
“It is also important to have a yearly celebration that we can all anticipate and rely upon, without the disappointment that comes from frequent cancellation of fireworks,” said City Manager Greg Clifton in a press release.
The southern California city of La Jolla and the town of Ocean Beach switched to a July Fourth drone show after animals objected to the sound of the loud booms.
“They’re so much more inclusive to everyone,” said Lynze Twede, an events manager for Salt Lake City Public Lands, in an interview with local news outlet Fox 13.
Wearing an N95 mask can help, but Pant suggests that those who are the most vulnerable to adverse health effects — children, the elderly, pregnant women and anyone with lung or heart disease — may want to stay away from sparklers, Piccolo Petes or any other kind of close-up smoke encounter.
The same ingredients that give the displays their vivid colors contain metallic particles, such as lead and copper, which can linger in the air after a holiday.
Resilient Firefights in Colorado During Independence Day and Its Impact on Air Quality: Case Study of the Boulder, Colorado, Wildfires
And while that pollution typically dissipates quickly — usually around noon on July 5th — the concentration can be high enough to aggravate symptoms for those with respiratory issues.
After years of supply chain issues, it is difficult to find a supplier for professional grade fireworks after the company that normally provides them went out of business. Plus, the city is still recovering from the highly destructive Marshall Fire, and its occupants are sensitive to wildfire risks.
The celebration in Boulder, Colorado will include 140 drones, some of which will be flown over the University of Colorado. Dan Kingdom said there were several reasons to switch to a different company for the Independence Day celebration.
With America’s Fourth of July holiday on the horizon, some U.S. cities also are looking to play it safe, canceling their celebrations or swapping their flashy fireworks displays with innovative alternatives.
Half of the states had an air quality rating of moderate or worse, which poses risks to those with respiratory conditions. Concern over exacerbating those conditions caused cities like Montreal to call off their annual fireworks competition, a part of Canada Day celebrations over the weekend.
The haze of smoke from Canadian fires has reached the Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast in the last few weeks. It’s not a permanent reprieve, despite the break from the bad smoke currently being experienced by most of us. The fires continue to burn, meaning the smoke could easily return.
Observational Evidence for the Implications of an El Nio Event for the Physical Environment: The Ubiquitous Shape of the Whale, Spinning Planet, and Marching Robot
They zoom instead of boom. They flash instead of flare. They assemble into shapes so sophisticated — a swimming whale, a spinning globe, a marching robot — that traditional pyrotechnics can seem a little lackluster in comparison.
The Fourth of July is a time when America’s air quality is the worst in decades, so even though drones are being used in more and more places, they don’t leave a blanket of smoke.
The long-term trend of global warming has been worsened by El Nio this year. During an El Niño event, global temperatures tend to rise. The start of an El Nio is now being referred to as a weather pattern by the World Meteorological Organization.
Hot weather, thunderstorms and wildfires are a fact of life in summer. The recent hot weather is also linked to human-caused global warming.
July 4 always brings an increase in fire risk, reports Pailthorp. It is expected to be a very warm and dry holiday season in Washington, which is already feeling the effects of a moderate drought.
In Texas the medical examiner reported nine heat related deaths in the month of August, while the number of heat-related trips to the emergency room rose sharply.
For a lot of America the past few weeks have been exhausting. A heat dome brought brutal temperatures to areas including Texas and the South. The heat was particularly dangerous because of the high humidity.
The mid-Atlantic and Southeast can also expect storms, according to the National Weather Service. The heat wave that has gripped much of the Southeast is easing, but advisories remain in North Carolina and Florida.