There is a solution for bad air quality in some cities
The Cost of a Fourth of July Drone Show in the Presence of an Elusive Flare: A State Senator’s Perspective
While it’s too soon to say if the burgeoning trend in alternatives will trickle down to smaller shows and consumers, price is a limiting factor: those high-tech displays are expensive.
The company Hire UAV Pro, which has conducted drone shows for events like Coachella, says $10,000 is the starting minimum price for a show, with higher costs for longer or more complex displays.
Bellamy Pailthorp, from NPR member station KNKX in Seattle, reports that officials are urging the public to use extra caution around fireworks after a very warm and dry forecast for Tuesday, on top of a moderate drought.
Data shows that much of the wildfire risk is caused by small scale shows that are held on the streets and sidewalks.
The City Manager said that it was important to have a yearly celebration that the public could rely upon, without the disappointment of frequent cancellation of fireworks.
The Southern California cities of La Jolla and Ocean Beach also cited animals as a key driver behind their switch to a July Fourth drone show: A 2017 lawsuit claimed that local sea lion pups were bothered by the booming sounds.
“I think they’re more inclusive to everyone,” said Twede, who works for Salt Lake City Public Lands.
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 lend the displays their vivid colors contain metallic particles, including lead and copper, that can linger in the air and surrounding environment after a holiday.
Play it Safe: Wildfires in the Boulder, Colo., U.S. Cities After the Marshall Fire and the Denver, Colorado, Fourth of July
The pollution usually leaves by noon on July 5th, but the high concentration can make it worse for people with respiratory issues.
It was hard to find a supplier for professional-grade fireworks after years of supply chain issues, even after the company that normally provided their fireworks 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, Colo, will include 140 drones forming patriotic symbols over the University of Colorado’s Folsom Field. According to Dan Kingdom, who is the CEO of the company, there are several reasons for making the switch.
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 is posing risks for people with respiratory conditions. Montreal decided to stop their annual fireworks competition because of the concern over the conditions.
And speaking of wildfires, smoke from Canadian fires has drifted over the Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast in recent weeks, triggering air quality alerts. It is not a permanent reprieve for most of the us to be free of that smoke. The fire continues to burn so smoke could easily return.
Fourth of July Cookouts: More Evidence for Human-Caused Warm-Hot Weather and Energetics in the Southwest and Central United States
They look at something instead of looking at something. They flash instead of putting on a show. 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.
As America’s air quality is already at its worst in decades, the use of drones by more and more cities for Fourth of July celebrations don’t cause a blanket of smoke.
Both long-term warming and the cyclical El Niño are contributing to current temperatures. It is not possible to tease apart the impacts. The last eight years of global temperatures were the warmest ever recorded as a result of a La Nia that lasted from 2020 to 2023.
In the summer there are hot weather and storms. But the hazardous conditions recently — particularly the extreme heat and the wildfire risks — are also inextricably linked to human-caused global warming.
It is a good idea to check the forecast before you go ahead and host your Fourth of July cookout. There is a risk of severe storms in the Midwest, and hot weather threatens parts of the Southwest and Pacific Northwest.
The medical examiner in Texas’ Webb County, where Laredo is located, reported nine heat-related deaths last month, Texas Public Radio’s Marian Navarro reported on NPR’s Newscast, while heat-related trips to the emergency room rose sharply in Texas and surrounding states.
The past few weeks have been grueling for vast swaths of America. A heat dome brought brutal temperatures to areas including Texas and the South. The heat was especially dangerous because of the high humidity.
The mid-Atlantic and Southeast have recently experienced storms, according to the National Weather Service. While the heat in the Southeast has lessened it remains in parts of North Carolina and Florida.
