Tag Archives: smoke

Scientists Forecast Wildfire Smoke as Leading Climate-Related Health Risk in Costs

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Wildfire smoke contributes to tens of thousands of annual deaths, inflicting greater harm on American residents by mid-century than other climate change-related threats, including extreme heat.

This assertion comes from a new research paper that presents extensive modeling of the increasing health impacts of wildfire smoke on public health in the U.S.

The study, published in Nature magazine on Thursday, reveals an average annual contribution of wildfire smoke, leading to over 41,400 excess deaths—more than twice what previous research had suggested.

By mid-century, the study’s authors project an additional increase of 26,500 to 30,000 deaths as human-driven climate change exacerbates wildfire risks.

Marshall Burke, an environmental and social sciences professor at Stanford University and one of the study’s authors, states:

Economically quantified, Burke mentions that their findings surpassed other financial damages associated with climate change identified in previous studies, including agricultural losses, heat-related fatalities, and energy expenses.

Numerous studies indicate that wildfire smoke exposure results in severe health issues. Tiny smoke particles can infiltrate the lungs and enter the bloodstream, raising the risk of asthma, lung cancer, and other chronic respiratory conditions. Wildfire smoke is also associated with premature births and miscarriages.

This research paints a stark picture of a country increasingly filled with smoke. Fires in the western U.S. and Canada release smoke into the atmosphere, spreading across regions and undermining decades of efforts to curb industrial air pollution through clean air regulations.

Dr. Joel Kaufman, a professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, commented on the study, noting, “This poses a new threat that can be directly linked to climate change. That’s the crucial point here.”

As the study suggests, wildfire smoke-related deaths could rise by 64% to more than 73%, varying by emission rates.

“Regardless of mitigation efforts, we are likely to experience more smoke by 2050,” Burke added, though emphasizing that emission reduction efforts will have long-term benefits.

Kaufman noted that over the past five to ten years, accumulating evidence indicates that wildfire smoke is at least as detrimental as other forms of air pollution.

“We previously assumed wood burning was less harmful,” Kaufman explained. “These findings indicate that wildfire smoke could be more toxic,” particularly when wildfires consume structures, vehicles, and other human-made materials.

Kaufman highlighted that earlier this year, the Los Angeles fire started from a burning area, but much of it involved homes and plastics, which created “another toxic mixture.” The new research does not differentiate the sources of future wildfire smoke.

The implications of this research could influence public policy.

The Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to revoke a vital legal provision known as “danger detection.” This is part of a broader rollback of environmental regulations. A legal decision from 2009 asserted that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are contributing to global warming, posing risks to public health and safety. This decision is crucial for the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

Dr. John Balmes, a spokesperson for the American Lung Association and a professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, expressed that this new study could serve as a “counterargument” against such actions.

The proposal to withdraw these findings is currently undergoing a lengthy regulatory process that is open to public commentary. Balmes mentioned that he referenced the study in a letter opposing the EPA’s proposed changes.

“It reinforces our claims regarding wildfires tied to climate change and their associated public health consequences,” Balmes stated.

On Wednesday, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report confirming that human-induced global warming is causing harm and will continue to do so in the future. The evidence is “extremely beyond scientific conflict,” asserted the committee behind the report.

The White House did not respond to requests for comments. The EPA stated that the administration is “committed to reducing the risks of catastrophic wildfires,” prioritizing strategies such as prescribed burns, fuel treatment, and debris cleanup to prevent these events.

“The EPA welcomes all public feedback on its proposal to rescind the 2009 danger findings until September 22, 2025, and looks forward to hearing diverse perspectives on this matter,” a spokesperson noted in an email.

In a novel study, researchers estimated the annual excess deaths attributed to wildfire smoke by comparing three models: one that assesses climate change’s impact on fire activity, another predicting changes in fire activity and smoke dispersion, and a third quantifying health outcomes from prolonged smoke exposure.

Researchers used data from 2011-2020 as a baseline to forecast future conditions under various climate scenarios, utilizing datasets that included all U.S. deaths within that period, both satellite and ground-level data on smoke dispersion, and global climate models.

The study assumes that people will take similar protective measures against smoke exposure as they do today.

This study has its limitations, as it primarily relies on a set of models to draw national conclusions. It does not track individual deaths linked to smoke exposure or catalog their health effects.

Results from this study were published alongside another study in Nature that employed a similar methodology and adopted a global perspective. Separate research teams estimate that premature deaths due to wildfire smoke could reach about 1.4 million annually by century’s end—approximately six times the current figure.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

A Blanket of Wildfire Smoke Triggers Air Quality Alerts for Millions Amidst Our Expansive Skies

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On Monday, air quality warnings were issued for millions across the upper Midwest and northeastern regions as smoke from wildfires in Canada moved into these areas.

Areas expected to experience hazy skies include Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Northern Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Maine. The National Weather Service reports.

In Canada, approximately 200 wildfires remain uncontrolled, including 81 in Saskatchewan, 159 in Manitoba, and 61 in Ontario. Data from Canada’s Interagency Forest Fire Centre indicates that over 16.5 million acres have been affected this year, which may lead to a record-breaking wildfire season.

High-pressure systems in the Midwest are trapping smoke, contributing to air quality issues that may last for several days. According to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

The Air Quality Index on Monday across 14 Midwest and Northeastern states indicated conditions ranging from “moderate” to “unhealthy” for the general population.

Wildfire smoke is particularly hazardous as it contains fine particles measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, which is about 4% the width of an average human hair. This type of pollution can penetrate deeply into the lungs, exacerbating asthma, lung cancer, and other chronic respiratory conditions.

High levels of air pollution can lead to inflammation and weaken the immune system. Infants, children, the elderly, and pregnant women are especially at risk during poor air quality conditions.

Research indicates that climate change contributes to the frequency and intensity of wildfires. Elevated temperatures can desiccate vegetation, elevating the likelihood of wildfires igniting and spreading quickly.

Cities experiencing poor air quality on Monday included Milwaukee, Detroit, Buffalo, Albany (New York), Boston, and New York City. Multiple alerts are in effect until Tuesday, as reported by the Weather Bureau.

In the western regions, several wildfires are causing additional air quality concerns. Over 65,000 acres have burned in California’s Los Padres National Forest, where high temperatures and dry conditions are fueling the growth of wildfires.

In Colorado, the Air Quality Index also displayed “moderate” readings on Monday.

“If the smoke becomes thick in your area, we advise you to remain indoors,” stated the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. This recommendation particularly applies to individuals with heart diseases, respiratory issues, young children, and the elderly. If smoke levels are moderate to intense, consider reducing outdoor activities.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Canadian Wildfire Smoke Impacts Air Quality in the Midwest and Northeast

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Smoke from Canadian wildfires is prompting air quality warnings across the Midwest and Northeastern US this Thursday as forests in North Korea continue to burn at a historic rate reminiscent of the extreme fire season of 2023.

Air pollution levels have surged in cities including Minneapolis, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Washington, Philadelphia, and New York due to smoke and ozone from the heat.

According to Canada’s Interagency Forest Fire Centre, the ongoing fire season in Canada has already resulted in the burning of around 8.6 million acres. With three months left in the season, this figure has exceeded the seasonal average since 1983, which stands at approximately 6.5 million acres.

The current burning rates in Canada are mirroring those from 2023, known as the year with the highest smoke exposure in modern American history, raising concerns that the current season may reflect that intensity.

“We’re facing significant challenges with our response,” stated Robert Gray, a wildfire ecologist in Chilliwack, British Columbia. “Most forecasts for Canada indicate above-average temperatures, while precipitation levels remain below normal.”

In past years, nearly 43 million acres burned in Canada by the end of the fire season.

Gray noted that much of the smoke this year originates from the densely packed boreal forests found in northern British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Wildfires typically occur in these regions during May and June, coinciding with longer days and rising temperatures. The subsequent developments depend heavily on weather conditions.

“It could be a brief two-week event. The huy starts burning, aspen gets involved, and then weather changes,” Gray explained, alluding to the common aspen trees in these forests. “If aspen and rain don’t clear out, the fires may persist.”

According to the BC Wildfire Service, parts of northern British Columbia have been experiencing drought conditions since 2022. Some forecasts predict an “increased likelihood of significant and challenging fires.”

Gray mentioned that drought, low snowfall during winter, and heightened “overwinter” fires are factors contributing to increasingly busy fire seasons.

These overwintering fires continue smoldering beneath forest debris and peat, reigniting in spring.

“There was a fire that started in 2023, lingering through winter into 2024,” Gray remarked. “Some of the same fires have reemerged this year.”

As northern British Columbia faces these wildfires, smoke is often transported to the US by the jetstream, a high-altitude air current that influences pressure and weather changes in the Northern Hemisphere.

“It’s a consistent pattern that remains stable. As long as central and northern BC are burning, this pattern channels smoke into the central and northeastern US,” Gray stated.

Sometimes the smoke stays aloft, creating hazy skies without significant ground-level air quality deterioration. However, it can pose a risk to health.

Wildfire smoke is increasingly hazardous across the US, reversing decades of improvements in air quality achieved under the Clean Air Act.

Inhaling wildfire smoke can cause inflammation, particularly as particles enter the lungs and bloodstream, compromising the immune system. This exposure can elevate the risks of asthma, lung cancer, and other chronic respiratory diseases, especially in vulnerable populations such as the elderly, pregnant individuals, infants, and children. Additionally, wildfire smoke is linked to respiratory illnesses, premature births, and miscarriages.

Evan Bush

Evan Bush is a science reporter for NBC News.

Kathryn Prosive I contributed.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

The Link Between Wildfire Smoke and Higher Dementia Risk

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summary

  • Studies have found that wildfire smoke can have adverse effects on brain health.
  • New research suggests that increased exposure to smoke may increase the risk of dementia.
  • As wildfires become more frequent and intense due to climate change, more people are being exposed to smoke and the associated health risks.

Parts of California, Oregon and Montana have been hit by several massive wildfires, including the Park Fire in Northern California, the fifth-largest in state history, and air pollution has reached unhealthy levels.

Smoke from wildfires can travel hundreds, even thousands, of miles, making it a danger to people nearby as well as those far away.

The fine particles in the smoke are not only bad for your lungs, but a series of studies in recent years have shown that they also have a negative impact on brain health, increasing the risk of dementia, cognitive impairment and mental health problems.

“Much of the research on wildfire smoke has historically focused on the lungs and the heart,” said Stephanie Cleland, an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University who studies the health effects of wildfire smoke. “It's only recently that we've seen a focus on cognitive function and brain health.”

Adding to this body of evidence is a study presented Monday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference suggesting that wildfire smoke may increase the likelihood of a dementia diagnosis.

The study analyzed health records of more than 1.2 million Southern California adults aged 60 and older from 2009 to 2019.

The researchers looked at where people lived and their exposure to fine particles from wildfire smoke and other pollutants, and found that for every extra microgram per cubic meter of fine particulate matter from smoke that participants were exposed to over a three-year period, their odds of developing dementia increased by 21%.

In contrast, a similar increase in exposure to fine particulate matter from other sources, such as cars and factories, was associated with a 3% increased odds of developing dementia.

Study author Dr. Holly Elser, a neurology resident at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, said the evidence is still preliminary but supports that chronic exposure to wildfire smoke contributes to cognitive decline.

But, she said, “the threshold at which wildfire smoke begins to pose a risk to dementia is unclear.”

a A study published in August Similarly, higher exposure to fine particulate matter from a variety of sources, including wildfires, was also found to be associated with higher incidence of dementia.

Climate change is making wildfires more frequent and more intense, and it is also increasing people's exposure to smoke. Between 2003 and 2023, the frequency of major wildfires is expected to more than double, Recent research has shown that.

Scientists believe that wildfire smoke affects the brain because the tiny particles it contains can penetrate the barrier between the bloodstream and the brain, causing inflammation in the central nervous system. The particles can also travel directly from the nose to the brain, which can affect people's ability to think, learn, and remember.

Dementia isn't the only potential impact. Research in 2022 Adults who had recently been exposed to wildfire smoke performed worse on brain-training games that measure abilities such as memory, attention, flexibility, processing speed and problem-solving skills, a study has found.

“People's alertness is significantly reduced within hours to days of exposure to wildfire smoke,” said Cleland, one of the study's authors.

other A study published in the same year Exposure to wildfire smoke during the school year has been shown to lower students' test scores compared to smoke-free years.

“The more smoke you're exposed to, the worse your test scores are,” said Marshall Burke, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of global environmental policy at Stanford University. “The impact on individual students is probably pretty small, but when you add it up across students and across schools, it adds up to a pretty significant overall learning loss.”

But Mr Burke said he had doubts about the dementia study findings published this week because wildfire smoke and other pollution “cannot be equated”.

Elser acknowledged that many questions remain about how smoke affects the brain — for example, it's unclear whether smoke causes dementia in healthy people or only in those who are already at risk.

“That's a really interesting question as to whether this is creating new cases of dementia that never would have occurred before, or whether it's simply hastening the onset of clinically evident dementia,” she said.

Other questions remain about the relationship between wildfire smoke and mental health. February Survey Exposure to smoke from wildfires in the western United States has been linked to increased emergency room visits for anxiety. depression and Psychosis like schizophrenia.

Elser said wildfire smoke can change the neurochemistry in people's brains, which can lead to depression and anxiety, but it's also possible that the anxiety and stress of experiencing and living through a wildfire can independently lead to mental health issues.

Other health effects of wildfire smoke are fairly well understood: Scientists have known for decades that inhaling smoke particles can travel deep into the lungs or enter the bloodstream, increasing the risk of asthma, stroke, heart attack, lung cancer, and low birth weight in newborns.

Cleland said it's not just people in fire-prone areas of the U.S. who have to worry about these risks, as the Canadian wildfires that blanketed parts of the Midwest and Northeast in smoke last summer showed.

“Last summer completely changed our discussion of who is exposed to wildfire smoke,” she says. “Oregon, California, Washington and British Columbia are actually getting a lot of wildfire smoke, but that doesn't mean places like the northeastern U.S. and Ontario aren't affected.”

To reduce exposure to wildfire smoke, experts recommend that people living in areas with high levels of wildfire smoke: Air Quality Index Reading If your count is over 100, avoid outdoor activities, close all windows, run indoor air purifiers, and wear an N95 mask if you must go out.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Wildfire smoke from Canadian and West Coast wildfires spreads throughout North America

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summary

  • Smoke from the wildfires has spread across North America, threatening air quality in much of Canada, California, and the Pacific Northwest.
  • The fast-spreading fire caused widespread damage in the Canadian alpine resort town of Jasper.
  • Firefighters in Oregon, Idaho, and California are also battling blazes that are spreading quickly due to gusty winds and high temperatures.

Raging wildfires in western Canada have sent huge plumes of smoke spreading across North America in recent days, with pollution captured in images by NASA satellites, aircraft, and ground-based observatories.

An animation released by NASA on Friday showed smoke blanketing the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories and drifting into other parts of the Midwest, including Montana, Colorado, Kansas, and Wisconsin.

This map uses data from NASA to show the concentration and movement of black carbon, a type of aerosol pollution released by wildfires, over North America from July 17 to July 24.

As of Friday afternoon, there were 948 fires burning in Canada, with 387 of them considered out of control. Canadian Joint Forest Fire Centre The fast-spreading fire caused widespread damage in the popular alpine resort city of Jasper in Alberta and forced the evacuation of 25,000 people.

Massive fires in the Pacific Northwest and California are also polluting the air nearby. Air quality alerts and watches have been issued in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming over the past week. Smoky skies have also been reported in North Dakota, South Dakota, and across the High Plains.

Oregon is experiencing the largest wildfire season in the US, fueled by lightning, high temperatures, and strong winds, with more than 35 out-of-control wildfires burning a combined total of nearly 1 million acres in the state.

In neighboring Idaho, fast-spreading fires forced the evacuation of the entire town of Juliaetta on Thursday, with more than 600 residents evacuated as the Gwen Fire and other wildfires burning in the area continued to grow.

Cities in Oregon, Montana, California, and Idaho topped the list of places with the worst air quality in the country on Friday. According to IQAir: For example, air pollution levels in Burns, Oregon, were listed as “hazardous,” while air quality in Stevensville, Montana, was listed as “very unhealthy,” according to a Swiss air quality monitoring company.

In California, the Park Fire has already burned more than 250 square miles in the Chico area since starting on Wednesday and remained uncontained as of Friday morning.

Firefighters are also battling the lightning-fought Gold Complex Fire in California’s Plumas National Forest, which has burned more than five square miles since July 22. As of Friday afternoon, the fire was only 11 percent contained, and winds are causing the blaze to spread quickly. According to the California Fire Department.

Smoke from wildfires that have spread eastward to New England and south to Mexico is having a variety of effects on human health.

In addition to black carbon, wildfires release carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, a variety of chemicals, and tiny particles called particulate matter into the air. Together, these substances can irritate the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs and worsen the conditions of diabetes, heart disease, COPD, and chronic kidney disease.

Young children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with asthma or other existing respiratory conditions are at greatest risk from wildfire smoke.

Thunderstorms have played a role in igniting many wildfires in Canada and the western United States, with gusty winds, high temperatures, and more thunderstorms fanning the flames.

Summer wildfires are common in western Canada and the United States, but scientists say climate change is making them more dangerous by creating more favorable conditions for fires to start and spread. Rising temperatures also drier vegetation, making it more flammable.

Source: www.nbcnews.com