Air pollution from wildfires and human health vulnerability in Alaskan communities under climate change.

ABSTRACT: Alaskan wildfires are becoming more frequent and severe, but very little is known regarding exposure to wildfire smoke, a risk factor for respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. We estimated long-term, present-day and future exposure to wildfire-related fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) across Alaska for the general population and subpopulations to assess vulnerability using observed data for the present day (1997-2010), modelled estimates for the present day (1997-2001), and modelled estimates for the future (2047-2051). First, we assessed wildfire-PM_2.5 exposure by estimating monthly-average wildfire-specific PM_2.5 levels across 1997-2010 for 158 Alaskan census tracts, using atmospheric transport modelling based on observed area-burned data. Second, we es

SUBMITTER: Woo SHL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8372693 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature