The Washington Memorial stands in hazy smoke on June 8th, 2023, in Washington, DC. | Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Images
Americans are breathing in a lot more wildfire smoke today than they did 10 years ago, new research confirms. And places with more people of color, immigrant communities, and areas where there’s lower educational attainment and more crowded housing have it the worst.
In short, already disadvantaged communities are bearing the brunt of growing health risks from wildfire smoke in the US. That’s something to keep in mind this week after wildfire smoke smashed air pollution records across the US.
More than 87 percent of the US population saw an increase in the number of days of heavy wildfire smoke they experienced between 2011 and 2021, according to a study published this week in the American Journal of Public Health. Zoom in on the last…
