New research shows that wildfires are a major contributor to ozone pollution, and can significantly exceed the impacts of human-generated emissions.
Ozone pollution is what you get when you mix nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and sunlight. It can lead to decreased lung function, increased emergency room visits, hundreds of annual premature deaths and other health impacts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A team of researchers recently modeled a major 2020 western wildfire smoke event to see how much it contributed to ozone compared to emissions from cars, industry and other human sources. The fire added 21 parts per billion, compared to just 11 from human activity.
“We are talking about twice as high a contribution to ozone formation than from anthropogenic emissions,” said study co-author Adam Kochanski. “For us, it was absolutely surprising.”
In 2023, other researchers found that wildfire smoke was erasing air quality gains in the Mountain West.
Kochanski acknowledged that his team’s findings could make people even more anxious about smoke, but argued that tools like prescribed fires will be among the most important for addressing the ozone pollution issue.
“In order to reduce the amount of available fuel and then the amount of emissions, the best way is to have prescribed fires,” he said.
In August, the Mountain West News Bureau reported on separate research that found that prescribed fires emit substantially less smoke than wildfires, with one of the authors estimating that “one ton of prescribed fire smoke reduces 3.2 tons of future wildfire smoke.” Prescribed fires also significantly decrease wildfire severity.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
