ORIGIN: https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/
Researchers from the University of Iowa have published a new study in Science on how ozone pollution is worsening over the continental United States due to wildfires and the long-distance transport of unhealthy air.
Wildfires are worsening ozone pollution across the United States. A new study published in Science, “Fires reverse progress toward ozone quality standards in the U.S.” led by researchers from the University of Iowa shows that surface ozone pollution from wildfires has contributed to over 300 premature deaths in the country each year since 2013.
Wildfires across the US
Smog is the concentration of surface ozone. Researchers calculated smog on a kilometer-by-kilometer grid for the continental US between 2003 and 2024. Air quality as a result of ozone pollutants became worse from 2015 to 2024 across the Midwest and Western US.
The increase in wildfire-driven ozone pollution in the last ten years has undercut air quality improvements prior to 2015 due to reductions in car emissions, which are the main contributor to surface ozone. US wildfires have reached historic levels this spring.
Surface
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