Smoke from Wildland Urban Fires Poses Greater Health Risk Than Remote Wildfires
Smoke from fires that rage through wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas where human development meets wildland vegetation has a significantly higher health impact than smoke from wildfires in remote areas, according to a groundbreaking study published in Science Advances.
The research, led by scientists at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), reveals that emissions from WUI fires are about three times more likely to contribute to premature deaths annually than emissions from wildfires in general. The reason: WUI fires burn closer to populated areas, exposing more people to harmful pollutants like fine particulate matter and ground-level ozone.
Rising Risk of WUI Fires
The wildland-urban interface has been expanding globally, now...