An estimated increase of 670 premature deaths per year between 2000 and 2020 due to worsening air quality in the Western U.S.
EPA regulations to improve air quality have been limited or erased in fire-prone areas and downwind regions.
The air quality in the western U.S. has been steadily declining due to an increase in wildfires.
The effects of wildfires extend beyond the regions they occur in, impacting air quality in the Midwest.
A recent study published in The Lancet Planetary Health has revealed that the air quality improvements made in the United States over the past two decades have been significantly offset by the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires, particularly in the western regions of the country. The study, led by Jun Wang from the University of Iowa, utilized deep learning to analyze data and found that the air quality in the western U.S. has been steadily declining due to an increase in wildfires.
The study also found that the effects of wildfires extend beyond the regions they occur in, impacting air quality in the Midwest. However, the eastern U.S. has remained relatively unaffected. The study concludes that EPA regulations to improve air quality have been limited or erased in fire-prone areas and downwind regions. The researchers attribute this setback to the wildfires undercutting the efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve air quality through reductions in vehicular emissions.
The study found that air quality has worsened in the Western part of the U.S. due to an increase in severe wildfires, resulting in an estimated increase of 670 premature deaths per year between 2000 and 2020. The concentration of airborne black carbon, a fine-particle air pollutant linked to respiratory and heart disease, has been rising 55% annually in the western US due to smoke from wildfires.
The researchers attribute this setback to the wildfires undercutting the efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve air quality through reductions in vehicular emissions.