@article{ref1,
title="The changing risk and burden of wildfire in the United States",
journal="Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
year="2021",
author="Wara, Michael and Heft-Neal, Sam and Driscoll, Anne and Burke, Marshall and Burney, Jennifer and Xue, Jiani",
volume="118",
number="2",
pages="e2011048118-e2011048118",
abstract="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 PM (2.5) (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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0027-8424",
doi="10.1073/pnas.2011048118",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2011048118"
}