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A more-than-urban political ecology of bushfire smoke in eastern Australia, 2019–2020

From September 2019 to February 2020 fires destroyed dwellings, towns and killed farm animals and wildlife in much of eastern Australia. While the threat and experiences of fire differed, smoke became a quotidian experience for millions of people not in direct danger from flames…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Safety, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): International
Keywords: urban political ecology, wildfire, health, climate change, air quality, eastern Australia

Exposure to particulate matter and estimation of volatile organic compounds across wildland firefighter job tasks

Wildland firefighters are exposed to smoke-containing particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while suppressing wildfires. From 2015 to 2017, the U.S. Forest Service conducted a field study collecting breathing zone measurements of PM4 (particulate matter…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): California, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest
Keywords: wildland firefighters, PM - particulate matter, VOC - volatile organic compounds, WE-CAN - Western Wildfire Experiment for Cloud Chemistry, Aerosol Absorption, and Nitrogen, smoke exposure, wildfires

Relationship between circum-Arctic atmospheric wave patterns and large-scale wildfires in boreal summer

Long-term assessment of severe wildfires and associated air pollution and related climate patterns in and around the Arctic is essential for assessing healthy human life status. To examine the relationships, we analyzed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Fire Occurrence, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, International
Keywords: wildfire, aerosol, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, Arctic, fire climate patterns, atmospheric circulation, particulate organic matter, air pollution

Air pollution, human health and climate change: newspaper coverage of Australian bushfires

We examine 512 Australian newspaper articles published over a five-year period (2016–2021) that report on air pollution due to bushfire smoke and resulting human health impacts. We analyze to what extent these articles provide information on the possible range of negative health…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Safety, Social Science
Region(s): International
Keywords: Australia, climate change, newspaper coverage, bushfire, wildfire, human health, air pollution

Improving Wildfire Management Decision-Making for Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge: A Case Study of Boundary Organizations and Partnerships in Alaska

Sarah Trainor & Jeremy Littell present at the 2021 Association for Fire Ecology Conference special session: The Nexus of Climate Change and Fire: Taking Science to Action Addressing the unprecedented challenges of climate change, wildland fire, and human land use requires…
Person: Littell, Trainor
Year: 2021
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Fire Ecology, Fire Effects, Fuels, Hazard and Risk, Planning, Safety
Region(s): Alaska
Keywords: wildfire, fire management, wildfire management, climate change, Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, partnerships, boundary organization, decision making, human health, fuels management, PM2.5, fire regime change, fire frequency, annual area burned

2020 WFLC-Western Region Accomplishment Report: Resilient Landscapes - Fire Adapted Communities - Safe, Effective Wildfire Response

The challenges of the 2020 Fire Year have validated the Cohesive Strategy and proven its foundational value for additional success and achievement across boundaries and landscapes in the West. The following pages offer a snapshot of 2020 activities and successes in the Western…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Administration, Aquatic, Aviation, Climate, Communications, Economics, Emissions and Smoke, Fire Behavior, Fire Ecology, Fire Effects, Fire History, Fire Occurrence, Fire Prevention, Fuels, Hazard and Risk, Intelligence, Logistics, Mapping, Models, Monitoring and Inventory, Outreach, Planning, Prescribed Fire, Regulations and Legislation, Restoration and Rehabilitation, Safety, Social Science, Weather, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy), wildfire, wildland fire

Expanding number of Western US urban centers face declining summertime air quality due to enhanced wildland fire activity

Combining multiple sources of information on atmospheric composition, wildland fire emissions, and fire area burned, we link decadal air quality trends in Western US urban centers with wildland fire activity during the months of August and September for the years 2000–2019. We…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Models, Safety
Region(s): California, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest
Keywords: PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, AOD - aerosol optical depth, postwildfire, NAAQS - National Ambient Air Quality Standards, air quality, burned area, urban areas, respiratory health, generalized additive modeling

Estimating PM2.5-related premature mortality and morbidity associated with future wildfire emissions in the western US

Wildfire activity in the western United States (US) has been increasing, a trend that has been correlated with changing patterns of temperature and precipitation associated with climate change. Health effects associated with exposure to wildfire smoke and fine particulate matter…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Economics, Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): California, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest
Keywords: PM2.5, PM - particulate matter, climate change, NAAQS - National Ambient Air Quality Standards, wildfire, human health, emergency department visits, hospital visit, mortality, morbidity, black carbon, organic carbon

Application and evaluation of a low-cost PM sensor and data fusion with CMAQ simulations to quantify the impacts of prescribed burning on air quality in Southwestern Georgia, USA

Prescribed burning (PB) is a prominent source of PM2.5 in the southeastern US and exposure to PB smoke is a health risk. As demand for burning increases and stricter controls are implemented for other anthropogenic sources, PB emissions tend to be responsible for an increasing…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Monitoring and Inventory, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): Southern
Keywords: PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, air quality, Southwestern Georgia, sensors, CMAQ - Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System, human health

A multi-analysis approach for estimating regional health impacts from the 2017 Northern California wildfires

Smoke impacts from large wildfires are mounting, and the projection is for more such events in the future as the one experienced October 2017 in Northern California, and subsequently in 2018 and 2020. Further, the evidence is growing about the health impacts from these events…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Models, Monitoring and Inventory, Safety
Region(s): California
Keywords: health impacts, WRF-SMOKE-CMAQ model, GOES-16, PM2.5, PM - particulate matter, wildfires, air quality, remote sensing, human health

Asthma exacerbation due to climate change-induced wildfire smoke in the Western US

Climate change and human activities have drastically altered the natural wildfire balance in the Western US and increased population health risks due to exposure to pollutants from fire smoke. Using dynamically downscaled climate model projections, we estimated additional asthma…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Climate, Economics, Emissions and Smoke, Models, Planning, Safety
Region(s): California, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest
Keywords: asthma, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, wildfire, healthcare, health impacts, CAM4 - Community Atmosphere Model v4

Short-term acute exposure to wildfire smoke and lung function among Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers

The increasing incidence of extreme wildfire is becoming a concern for public health. Although long-term exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with respiratory illnesses, reports on the association between short-term occupational exposure to wildfire smoke and lung function…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): International
Keywords: air pollution, air quality, lung function, occupational exposure, wildfires, public health, Fort McMurray Fire, Canada

Spatially resolved photochemistry impacts emissions estimates in fresh wildfire plumes

Wildfire emissions affect downwind air quality and human health. Predictions of these impacts using models are limited by uncertainties in emissions and chemical evolution of smoke plumes. Using high-time-resolution aircraft measurements, we illustrate spatial variations that…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Mapping, Models, Monitoring and Inventory, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: biomass burning, wildfire, chemistry, plume, hydroxyl radical, fire plume evolution, air quality, O3 - ozone

Quantifying the health benefits of face masks and respirators to mitigate exposure to severe air pollution

Familiarity with the use of face coverings to reduce the risk of respiratory disease has increased during the coronavirus pandemic; however, recommendations for their use outside of the pandemic remains limited. Here, we develop a modeling framework to quantify the potential…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): Northwest
Keywords: respiratory disease, N95 respirator, wildfire, air pollution, human health, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, face covering

Using low-cost sensors to assess fine particulate matter infiltration (PM2.5) during a wildfire smoke episode at a large inpatient healthcare facility

Wildfire smoke exposure is associated with a range of acute health outcomes, which can be more severe in individuals with underlying health conditions. Currently, there is limited information on the susceptibility of healthcare facilities to smoke infiltration. As part of a…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Monitoring and Inventory, Safety
Region(s): International
Keywords: PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, indoor air quality, wildfire, infiltration, low-cost air quality sensors, healthcare, healthcare facility, British Columbia, Canada, Vancouver

Spatio-temporal analysis to assess health effects of landscape fire smoke: an empirical model

Background Understanding the health effects of smoke from landscape fires (LFs), including wildfires and prescribed burns, is limited due to lack of adequate smoke exposure measures. Methods We used the reported LFs to determine smoke plume shapes from satellite images. Daily…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Models, Monitoring and Inventory, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): International
Keywords: health effects, wildfire, landscape fire, smoke exposure, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, cardiovascular disease, EMS - Emergency Medical Services, aerosols, ambulance, dose-response models, hospitalizations, li-fraumeni syndrome, health outcomes, optics

Dominance of wildfires impact on air quality exceedances during the 2020 record-breaking wildfire Season in the United States

The western United States experienced a record-breaking wildfire season in 2020. This study quantifies the contribution of wildfire emissions to the exceedances of health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particles (PM2.5) by comparing two CMAQ…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Models, Safety
Region(s): California, Eastern, Great Basin, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest
Keywords: 2020 fire season, biomass burning, aerosol, air quality, exceedance, CMAQ - Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System, PM2.5, PM - particulate matter, human health

Impact of the 2019/2020 Australian megafires on air quality and health

The Australian 2019/2020 bushfires were unprecedented in their extent and intensity, causing a catastrophic loss of habitat, human and animal life across eastern-Australia. We use a regional air quality model to assess the impact of the bushfires on particulate matter with a…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): International
Keywords: air quality, public health, megafires, 2019/2020 Australian wildfires, Australia, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, bushfire, health impacts, smoke exposure

Wildfire preparedness and evacuation planning in a pandemic: case studies from California and Colorado

This report presents key findings, conclusions, and recommendations from a longitudinal research study on wildfire preparedness and evacuation planning in a pandemic (CONVERGE 2020). The research aim was to understand the social, ecological, and public health dimensions of…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Hazard and Risk, Planning, Safety, Social Science, Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Region(s): California, Rocky Mountain
Keywords: wildfire, preparedness, evacuation, COVID-19, pandemics, risk perception

Estimated mortality and morbidity attributable to smoke plumes in the US: not just a western US problem

As anthropogenic emissions continue to decline and emissions from landscape (wild, prescribed, and agricultural) fires increase across the coming century, the relative importance of landscape-fire smoke on air quality and health in the United States (US) will increase. Landscape…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: PM2.5, PM - particulate matter, air quality, air pollution, wildfire, health impact assessment, human health, hazardous air pollutants, asthma, hospital admissions

Wildfire Smoke and Health

Living With Fire hosted a workshop on wildfire smoke and its potential health impacts. Featuring guests Chris Smallcomb, National Weather Service – Reno office meteorologist and public information officer, who discussed smoke forecasting and models utilized to predict smoke. And…
Person: Smallcomb, Schnieder
Year: 2021
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Models, Safety, Weather
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, National
Keywords: air quality, health impacts, smoke forecast, wildfires, atmospheric stability, HRRR-Smoke, AQI - Air Quality Index, public health, air pollution, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, O3 - ozone

Potential Impacts of Prescribed Fire Smoke on Air Quality, Public Health, and Socially Vulnerable Populations in the Southeastern U.S.

While prescribed fire is an essential land management tool in the Southeast, its impacts on air quality and public health remain uncertain. This webinar will cover a recent project that used burn permit records, air quality modelling, and epidemiological associations between…
Person: Afrin, Garcia Menendez
Year: 2021
Type: Media
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Models, Prescribed Fire, Safety
Region(s): Southern
Keywords: air quality, public health, epidemiology, health impacts, vulnerable populations, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, social vulnerability

Assessing urban mortality from wildfires with a citizen science network

Assessment of exposure and mortality attributable to air pollution is one of the most important tasks to inform strategies for mitigation and prevention of the negative effects of degraded air quality. While the vast majority of studies rely on either satellite data or sparse (…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Fire Effects, Safety
Region(s): California
Keywords: air quality, air pollution, mortality, human health, citizen science, exposure, low-cost air quality sensors

PM2.5, NO2, wildfires, and other environmental exposures are linked to higher Covid 19 incidence, severity, and death rates

Numerous studies have linked outdoor levels of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, O3, SO2, and other air pollutants to significantly higher rates of Covid 19 morbidity and mortality, although the rate in which specific concentrations of pollutants increase Covid 19 morbidity and mortality varies…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): Alaska, California, Eastern, Great Basin, Hawaii, Northern Rockies, Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southern, Southwest, International, National
Keywords: PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, air pollution, NO2 - nitrogen dioxide, air quality, COVID-19, human health, morbidity, mortality

Wildfires may have worsened impact of covid-19 in the US

POLLUTED air caused by smoke from record-breaking wildfires in the US last year has been linked to a rise in covid-19 cases and deaths. Francesca Dominici at Harvard University and her colleagues say 19,742 recorded covid-19 cases and 748 covid-related deaths can be linked to…
Person:
Year: 2021
Type: Document
Source: FRAMES
Topic(s): Emissions and Smoke, Safety
Region(s): California, Northwest
Keywords: COVID-19, PM - particulate matter, PM2.5, human health, air quality