Advancing new metrics for wildfire smoke exposure: case study in Alaska to bridge public health, climate adaptation, and fire management
Wildfire activity is increasing globally due to climate change, with implications for air quality and public health. Fine particulate matter (PM _2.5 ) from wildfire smoke contributes to cardiorespiratory morbidity and mortality, adverse birth outcomes, mental health stressors, and disruptions to fo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adeff6 |
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| author | Micah B Hahn Nelsha R Athauda Zhiwei Dong Melissa Bradley Jingqiu Mao Loretta J Mickley |
| author_facet | Micah B Hahn Nelsha R Athauda Zhiwei Dong Melissa Bradley Jingqiu Mao Loretta J Mickley |
| author_sort | Micah B Hahn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wildfire activity is increasing globally due to climate change, with implications for air quality and public health. Fine particulate matter (PM _2.5 ) from wildfire smoke contributes to cardiorespiratory morbidity and mortality, adverse birth outcomes, mental health stressors, and disruptions to food security and traditional livelihoods. However, quantifying health risks remains difficult due to sparse monitoring, challenges in isolating wildfire-specific pollution, and limited long-term exposure assessments. We developed a historical air quality dataset for Alaska using a hybrid approach that integrates GEOS-Chem atmospheric modeling with ground-based data to estimate daily wildfire-attributable PM _2.5 at a 0.625° × 0.5° resolution from 2003 to 2020. We aggregated these estimates by census tract and derived metrics to quantify long-term wildfire smoke exposure, then combined these estimates with social vulnerability data to identify populations disproportionately affected. Alaskans experienced an average of 3.5 million person-days of moderate and >800 000 person-days of dense smoke exposure annually. In years when over 2 million acres burned, 86%–98% of census tracts recorded at least 1 d of moderate smoke, and up to 73% experienced dense smoke. Northern Interior Alaska had over 300 cumulative days of poor air quality (∼10% of summer days) over the 18 year period, with smoke waves lasting as long as 43 d. Tracts identified as having high smoke exposure and high smoke vulnerability were generally in rural Interior Alaska; however, urban tracts in Interior and Southcentral were also identified. High-exposure census tracts had statistically greater proportions of housing cost-burdened residents and women of childbearing age. This study highlights the need to move beyond traditional fire metrics and adopt measures that better capture the full scope of human exposure. Our approach provides a framework for assessing health risks and integrating public health into climate adaptation and fire management especially in wildfire-prone regions where observations are sparse. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-492cd3e31a7b4fe39c27231cc7bd2dd3 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-492cd3e31a7b4fe39c27231cc7bd2dd32025-07-25T05:08:25ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262025-01-0120808407310.1088/1748-9326/adeff6Advancing new metrics for wildfire smoke exposure: case study in Alaska to bridge public health, climate adaptation, and fire managementMicah B Hahn0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7022-3918Nelsha R Athauda1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0762-5666Zhiwei Dong2https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1536-910XMelissa Bradley3Jingqiu Mao4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4774-9751Loretta J Mickley5Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage , Anchorage, AK, United States of AmericaInstitute for Circumpolar Health Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage , Anchorage, AK, United States of AmericaGeophysical Institute and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaInstitute for Circumpolar Health Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage , Anchorage, AK, United States of AmericaGeophysical Institute and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Alaska Fairbanks , Fairbanks, AK, United States of AmericaJohn A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University , Cambridge, MA, United States of AmericaWildfire activity is increasing globally due to climate change, with implications for air quality and public health. Fine particulate matter (PM _2.5 ) from wildfire smoke contributes to cardiorespiratory morbidity and mortality, adverse birth outcomes, mental health stressors, and disruptions to food security and traditional livelihoods. However, quantifying health risks remains difficult due to sparse monitoring, challenges in isolating wildfire-specific pollution, and limited long-term exposure assessments. We developed a historical air quality dataset for Alaska using a hybrid approach that integrates GEOS-Chem atmospheric modeling with ground-based data to estimate daily wildfire-attributable PM _2.5 at a 0.625° × 0.5° resolution from 2003 to 2020. We aggregated these estimates by census tract and derived metrics to quantify long-term wildfire smoke exposure, then combined these estimates with social vulnerability data to identify populations disproportionately affected. Alaskans experienced an average of 3.5 million person-days of moderate and >800 000 person-days of dense smoke exposure annually. In years when over 2 million acres burned, 86%–98% of census tracts recorded at least 1 d of moderate smoke, and up to 73% experienced dense smoke. Northern Interior Alaska had over 300 cumulative days of poor air quality (∼10% of summer days) over the 18 year period, with smoke waves lasting as long as 43 d. Tracts identified as having high smoke exposure and high smoke vulnerability were generally in rural Interior Alaska; however, urban tracts in Interior and Southcentral were also identified. High-exposure census tracts had statistically greater proportions of housing cost-burdened residents and women of childbearing age. This study highlights the need to move beyond traditional fire metrics and adopt measures that better capture the full scope of human exposure. Our approach provides a framework for assessing health risks and integrating public health into climate adaptation and fire management especially in wildfire-prone regions where observations are sparse.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adeff6wildfire smokehuman healthenvironmental justiceexposure metricsAlaska |
| spellingShingle | Micah B Hahn Nelsha R Athauda Zhiwei Dong Melissa Bradley Jingqiu Mao Loretta J Mickley Advancing new metrics for wildfire smoke exposure: case study in Alaska to bridge public health, climate adaptation, and fire management Environmental Research Letters wildfire smoke human health environmental justice exposure metrics Alaska |
| title | Advancing new metrics for wildfire smoke exposure: case study in Alaska to bridge public health, climate adaptation, and fire management |
| title_full | Advancing new metrics for wildfire smoke exposure: case study in Alaska to bridge public health, climate adaptation, and fire management |
| title_fullStr | Advancing new metrics for wildfire smoke exposure: case study in Alaska to bridge public health, climate adaptation, and fire management |
| title_full_unstemmed | Advancing new metrics for wildfire smoke exposure: case study in Alaska to bridge public health, climate adaptation, and fire management |
| title_short | Advancing new metrics for wildfire smoke exposure: case study in Alaska to bridge public health, climate adaptation, and fire management |
| title_sort | advancing new metrics for wildfire smoke exposure case study in alaska to bridge public health climate adaptation and fire management |
| topic | wildfire smoke human health environmental justice exposure metrics Alaska |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adeff6 |
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