Paying Attention Now

Bay Area residents were able to look at the
sun all week without special eclipse glasses.

Yesterday's throwaway line about the Bay Area's smoky haze ("Do you want to breathe like the people in China?") isn't a laughing matter. The allergist strongly recommended that we stay indoors, and the asthmatics in the family are wheezing, even with the air filters running continuously.

Popular Mechanics - The Air Quality in San Francisco Right Now Is As Bad As Beijing:

"These fires are bringing Beijing to the Bay Area and are allowing us to see what they experience around the clock," says Richard Muller, a UC Berkeley professor of physics...."By published estimates, it's killing 4,400 people a day in China alone. People die prematurely in China every day and we pay no attention."

Meanwhile businesses and government officials are cancelling events:

many schools decided to close Friday and organizers canceled weekend events, including an Oktoberfest in Walnut Creek and a fitness festival and half marathon in San Francisco.

Sports teams are monitoring the air quality as they prepare to host games. Some members of the Oakland Raiders wore masks during workouts Thursday.

The NFL has been exploring options to move Sunday's game between the Oakland Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers if it becomes necessary.

Oakland, some 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of the fires, has been blanketed by smoke.

Officials at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford are monitoring the air quality as weekend football games approach.

The fires in the North Bay aren't contained, and the forecasters predict that the winds will pick up again. If it weren't for various responsibilities, we would have taken off for the weekend.