Assessing Air Quality and Health Benefits of Enhanced Management of Forests, Shrublands, and Grasslands Against Wildfires in California.

ABSTRACT: California wildfires have grown increasingly frequent and intense over recent decades, raising serious public health concerns. In response, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2022 Scoping Plan outlines land management strategies to reduce wildfire risk and associated emissions under various climate change scenarios. This study evaluates the health benefits of CARB's official mitigation pathway, the S3 scenario, compared to a business-as-usual approach, using three global climate models (GCMs) and three future time slices. We apply the GEOS-Chem model to estimate fire-induced PM_2.5 concentrations and use the U.S. EPA's BenMAP-CE tool, along with a wildfire-specific chronic mortality dose-response function, to assess associated morbidity and mortality. Results suggest that

SUBMITTER: Lindsey S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12635771 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature