Wildfire Smoke Extremely Toxic As Far As New England

 With hundreds of small and several gigantic wildfires on the West Coast you might think that even if the smoke reaches 3,000 miles it will be a minor annoyance but not so.

People in New York state are experiencing asthma attacks while scientists say the smoke from wildfires is not only toxic close up but the tiniest particles, which are so small ( PNAS BELOW "wildfires have accounted for up to 25% of PM2.5") they can pass directly from the lungs to the bloodstream, are actually more dense the further away you get because the heavier dust particles fall out of the cloud.

Yet another reason to fear climate change, even places as relatively safe such as where I live in Central PA, are being impacted by the western drought not only because of farm prices going up due to lack of water for irrigation, but now it is learned we are getting pollution from 2,500 miles away where one fire alone has covered 400,000 acres and is still mostly out of control.

The National Academy of Sciences recently published a report on the dangers.

"Recent dramatic and deadly increases in global wildfire activity have increased attention on the causes of wildfires, their consequences, and how risk from wildfire might be mitigated. Here we bring together data on the changing risk and societal burden of wildfire in the United States. We estimate that nearly 50 million homes are currently in the wildland–urban interface in the United States, a number increasing by 1 million houses every 3 y. To illustrate how changes in wildfire activity might affect air pollution and related health outcomes, and how these linkages might guide future science and policy, we develop a statistical model that relates satellite-based fire and smoke data to information from pollution monitoring stations. Using the model, we estimate that wildfires have accounted for up to 25% of PM2.5 (particulate matter with diameter <2.5 μm) in recent years across the United States, and up to half in some Western regions, with spatial patterns in ambient smoke exposure that do not follow traditional socioeconomic pollution exposure gradients. We combine the model with stylized scenarios to show that fuel management interventions could have large health benefits and that future health impacts from climate-change–induced wildfire smoke could approach projected overall increases in temperature-related mortality from climate change—but that both estimates remain uncertain. We use model results to highlight important areas for future research and to draw lessons for policy."

The changing risk and burden of wildfire in the United States | PNAS