Environmental Science · Global and Planetary Change
Amazon droughts were linked to stronger wildfire pollution during the dry season, according to a study covering 2010 to 2015. The researchers estimate that fire-related exposure to fine particles and ozone raised premature mortality more in drought years than in other years.
Prescribed burns made the Brazilian Cerrado shrub Macairea radula flower earlier and for longer, but reduced its fruiting period and fruit abundance. The findings suggest that fire management should consider effects on reproduction beyond flowering.
Measurements in Missoula, Montana, found that aged wildfire smoke contained substantially more fine particles, carbon monoxide and chemical pollutants than a widely used atmospheric model predicted. The researchers estimated that an annually recurring 2020-style fire season would raise excess lifetime cancer risk to about 100 in 1 million, while the model understated that risk by about 40 percent.
