In 2020, wildfires throughout the Western U.S. blanketed the country in smoke from coast to coast. People as far away as New York, Boston, and Washington were photographing exceptionally brilliant sunsets and posting them on social media. But the same smoke that tinted the sun a brilliant orange was tainting lungs, with 50 times more people in the U.S. exposed to dangerous levels of wildfire smoke than 10 years earlier.
Wildfires, much like storms such as hurricanes, are increasing in severity due to climate change. And winds can carry the health risks of smoke for thousands of miles. So emergency rooms and clinics far from the fires must respond to more people suffering from asthma and other respiratory conditions.
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