No one likes wildfire season, and now there's another reason to be wary. A new study, reported by Phys.org, adds to the growing evidence base that wildfires have a significant and negative impact on human health and lifespan.
What's happening?
In a 10-year period, between 2008 and 2018, at least 52,480 deaths occurred that were directly related to inhaling tiny airborne pollutants connected to wildfires, Phys.org reported, based on the study.
Researcher Rachel Connolly from the University of California Los Angeles, along with collaborators, counted people who died after exposure to tiny PM2.5 particles released by wildfires. Their results can motivate us to make some much-needed changes.
Why is the health impact of wildfires important?
In 2023 alone, 56,580 wildfires burned in the United States, reports the U.S. Department of the Interior. Fires occur for a number of reasons, from human error or ignorance to lightning strikes, rising temperatures, and drought conditions, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. Overall, they have played a part in over a quarter of the United States' population experiencing unhealthy air every year.
While experts like those from the U.S. Department of the Interior have thought that there are benefits to having fires burn, as long as they don't pose a risk to people, this research may shift thoughts on what, exactly, is a risk. If inhaling chemicals released by fires is causing death, it's more important to improve our techniques for managing and to create conditions where they are less likely to occur.
The researchers from the new study agree. "The importance of wildfire management will only grow in the coming decades as aridification intensifies with climate change and more regions are susceptible to fires," they wrote.
Wildfires aren't the only way that climate problems are affecting health. Rising temperatures are projected to cause over 14.5 million added deaths globally in the next 26 years.
What's being done about wildfires?
Many wildfire-prone areas practice controlled burning, though this can also release the same particles that caused health issues in Connolly's research, according to research published in the Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association.
Knowing this should give us more reasons to address the way the Earth is overheating due to our overuse of dirty fuel sources, making it easier for fires to burn.
"Growing the evidence base on health impacts from wildfires and other climate-related exposures is critical," the researchers said, and that's partly due to the way it could motivate us to change.
Meanwhile, experts from The World Air Quality Index Project indicate that you may want to wear an N95 mask when there's wildfire pollution in your area so you don't breathe in those damaging particles.
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