"Californians are disproportionately at risk due to a substantial increase in wildfire activity in the Western U.S., said Marshall Burke, an environmental economist at Stanford and co-author of the study. The researchers estimate an excess of 5,060 deaths in the Golden State per year, compared to 2011-2020 - deaths that wouldn't have happened if not for the effects of wildfire smoke."
""Northern California in particular has experienced immense wildfire smoke exposure in the past five to 10 years," Burke told KQED. "Unfortunately, we project that's going to increase in the future." In many parts of the Western U.S., the particulate matter from wildfire smoke in extreme smoke years has accounted for more than half of all air pollution, the study noted, and has led to reversals of 20-year gains in air quality since the passage of the Clean Air Act."
Estimates show smoke from wildfires could kill as many as 70,000 Americans annually by 2050 if warming continues at current rates. Californians face disproportionate risk because wildfire activity in the Western U.S. has increased substantially, contributing an estimated 5,060 additional deaths per year in California compared with 2011–2020. Northern California has experienced immense smoke exposure over the past five to ten years and is projected to see increases. In extreme smoke years particulate matter from wildfires has made up more than half of air pollution in many Western regions, reversing two decades of air-quality gains since the Clean Air Act. Indigenous Californians experience 1.68 times higher exposure. Projected mortality carries large economic costs exceeding other climate-related U.S. damages combined.
Read at Kqed
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