A study published in Science Advances August 13 found that wildfire smoke was responsible for almost 20,000 more people getting sick from Covid and 750 more people dying from Covid in 3 states in the U.S.
The researchers looked at daily fine particle air pollution (PM2.5) levels for 92 counties in Washington, Oregon, and California. (The other counties didn’t have adequate measures of PM2.5 levels.) They were able to determine when wildfire smoke increased PM2.5 levels in each county. They compared the number of new cases of people getting sick from Covid, and dying from Covid, on days with or without wildfire smoke in the 4 weeks after wildfire smoke happened.
They researchers determined that 19,742 more people got sick with Covid and 748 more people died from Covid because of the wildfire smoke. It could be that the virus is carried deep in the lungs by the smoke, or that the smoke damages people’s lungs so they got infected more easily, or a mixture both.
This study matches what other studies have shown about air pollution and Covid, and wildfire smoke and other viruses such as influenza or RSV.
This shows the terrible self-reinforcing spiral between air pollution, climate, and health. The air pollution we make when burning fuel is causing climate change, climate change makes the wildfires more intense which creates more air pollution from wildfires, and the wildfire smoke makes us more susceptible to Covid and other viruses. It shows how #HealthyAirIsHealthCare – less air pollution fights climate change and keeps us from getting viruses.
We can fix this! Scientists and engineers know that to stop a self-reinforcing cycle, you take away one of the inputs. To stop the cycle of air pollution and climate change – we need to stop burning fuel for energy and transportation so we don’t make air pollution and greenhouse gases.
We have the tools we need to improve energy efficiency and change to clean energy and clean transportation. Clean energy, clean transportation, and energy efficiency will help reduce the inequities built into our country by decisions and actions from past decades.
Read the study in Science Advances here.
08/16/2021
