Scientists predict wildfire smoke will be the most costly climate-related health hazard

Wildfire smoke is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year and will do more harm to U.S. residents by midcentury than any other threat driven by climate change, including extreme heat.

Wildfire smoke is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year and will do more harm to U.S. residents by midcentury than any other threat driven by climate change, including extreme heat.

That’s the conclusion of a new research paper that provides some of the most extensive modeling of the growing health toll of wildfire smoke on public health in the U.S.

The study, which was published in the journal Nature on Thursday, found that each year, on average, wildfire smoke is causing more than 41,400 excess deaths, or more than would be normally expected without smoke given the demographics of the U.S. That figure is more than twice what was previously recognized in other studies.

By midcentury, the study’s authors expect that number to grow by an additional 26,500 to 30,000 deaths as human-caused climate change worsens and the risk of wildfires igniting increases.

“Wildfire smoke is a much larger health risk than we might have understood previously,” said Marshall Burke, a professor of environmental social sciences at Stanford University and a study author.