Fireworks shows often lead to lost pets, disruptions for local wildlife, polluted water, and wildfires. Drone shows offer a safer celebration.
Cities around the world are moving away from large-scale fireworks shows, which emit pollution, disturb wildlife and pets, impact people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other conditions, and can spark wildfires.
As Michaela Haas explains in Reasons to be Cheerful, “While the show might only last for 15 minutes, the contamination of the soil, water and air lasts much longer, often for many years. After Independence Day, Californian beaches are always littered with the plastic shells and smoldering leftovers of the rockets and artillery shells beachgoers launched.” Meanwhile, eight deaths and close to 10,000 injuries were attributed to fireworks in 2023.
In Los Angeles County, the LA Regional Water Quality Control Board has tightened regulations on pyrotechnics over water, causing some coastal cities including Laguna Beach and La Jolla to switch to drone shows instead of fireworks displays. “Laser and drone shows are comparatively new inventions, but because of AI, they are rapidly getting more sophisticated and entertaining every year.”
FULL STORY: Is it time to break up with fireworks?
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research