Fire | Water | Earth | Air

Smoke over the Kanaka Mountains 2020-09-14

Kanaka has said in many presentations "three weeks without food, three days without water, and only three minutes without air" those are a few of the physiological needs a person needs to survive and that's all it takes to for a human to perish. With foundational certainty, we have stability. This is why we are so adamant about understanding and tracking our air and weather quality. 

AIR MONITORING

Air Quality Monitor at The Kanaka Bar Band Office

Kanaka has seen variable air quality over the last several years due to forest fires, increasing allergins and particulates, and visible pollution in urban areas. Since then we've installed an air quality monitor to measure these variables to better understand the cause and affects. 

SMOKE

Kanaka Youth fishing through fire season during a poor air quality year.

Kanaka Bar Band says YES to Salmon, and NO TMX pipeline

BC has seen back to back years of forest fires and poor air quality due to smoke traveling through the regions. Smoke caused adverse effects to children, elders, those with illnesses, or asthma and because of climate change wildfires are expected to become even more frequent and even more severe. 

ALLERGENS 

One of the commonly ignored risks that come with increased growing seasons and invasive species is the risk posed to people with severe allergies and asthma. Plants like ragweed may be great for the birds but are terrible for people with allergies from their huge pollen quantities. Another allergin not as easily recognized is fungal spores that can be found in both outdoor and indoor air. As carbon dioxide and temperatures increase it has been seen that the production of fungal spores from decomposing plants increases; and inside, following floods and rain events indoor moisture levels will increase giving mold (a fungal spore) prime growing grounds.