Fears of fires take fireworks out of July 4th celebrations. From Colorado to Indiana, Wyoming to Missouri, dozens of cities and towns have decided to scrap their fireworks displays, driven by parched conditions, vicious wildfires and sometimes a simple hunch that putting on a show this year might leave too much to Mother Nature’s mood.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/04/us/fears-of-fires-tak
e-toll-on-cities-fireworks-shows.html?_r=1

I heard about all of the fires on the news recently. I can't believe it got so out of control so quickly. I personally love to use fireworks but when my family uses them we are smart about it and have tons of water ready and we don't get big ones. Unfortunately, not everyone does this. Hopefully the fires are contained soon.
In the article, many people were understanding about the need to cancel firework sales and displays.

I also just learned that Fireworks produce an incredible amount of greenhouse gas emissions!

According to some online sources: "It is estimated that the annual U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fireworks is 60,340 tons or the same emissions from 12,000 cars on the road for a year."

wowza

http://www.greenandsave.com/green_news/green_science_an
d_technology/fireworks_produce_over_60000_tons_of_emiss
ions_each_year_in_
http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/fireworks-un
green-or-a-necessary-part-of-ringing-in-the-new-year.ht
ml

I usually go to a friends house for the 4th of July because he knows a guy who knows a guy that gets him his fireworks. While they are fun to watch We're often left in a cloud of smoke especially because they love getting those fountain ones. The amount of smoke they put out is like that of a car doing a burn out. The video below will give you an idea of how much smoke they can put out. However, what it doesn't show is how much smoke there is after the pretty colors stop burning and thats usually when most of the smoke is visible.

It's hard to say don't do anything fun, but it's also quite selfish of us to continue on needlessly wasting resources and polluting our environment. I think fireworks should be used only in large public venues, and with the goal to limit cities from putting on shows without at least attempting to coordinate with other local cities and municipalities so as to reduce the number of fireworks being showcased. Hate to be the party pooper but perhaps it's time to say adieu

I think coordination is the way to go as well. It's not about banning fireworks all together, it's just about realizing the impacts our actions have on the environment. People have come to expect HUGE fireworks shows that are 15 minutes long with grand finales, etc etc, and not just on the 4th, but at baseball games, theme parks, and so on. Fireworks can be fun even if they aren't enormous shows, and they don't have to occur at every park in the City either.