(Los Angeles) Pollution from California wildfires has killed more than 52,000 people in a decade, a study reported Friday, as the western United States expects a hot, fire-prone summer.
Researchers have established that pollution from fires has a devastating effect on local populations, far exceeding the number of deaths directly attributable to these fires.
This study, led by Rachel Connolly of the University of California, Los Angeles, focused on the impact of fine particles (PM2.5, 2.5 micrometers or less) released by wildfires between 2008 and 2018 , by ruling out other sources of pollution such as transport or industry.
According to their results, at least 52,480 premature deaths can be attributed to fires in California over ten years.
“The importance of wildfire management will only increase in the coming decades as aridification intensifies with climate change and more regions are exposed to fire,” the researchers said in the study published in Science Advances.
“These findings have direct implications for California, a state at the forefront of climate policy development with several fire-prone regions,” they added.
The study comes as an early heat wave hits the western United States.
Las Vegas sweltered in 44 degrees Celsius on Thursday while the desert region of Death Valley reached 49 degrees Celsius.
These temperatures raise fears of a very intense fire season in 2024, after two relatively spare years, thanks to rainy winters.
After roughly 20 years of drought and an increasingly arid climate, California has seen an alarming number of megafires this century, with 18 of the state’s 20 largest measured fires occurring in the last two decades.