{"id":4837,"date":"2022-09-06T15:59:41","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T22:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfca.com\/?p=4837"},"modified":"2024-03-04T14:28:25","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T22:28:25","slug":"environmental-effects-of-wildfire-smoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wfca.com\/wildfire-articles\/environmental-effects-of-wildfire-smoke\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Wildfire Smoke Impact the Environment?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Discover the effects wildfire smoke can have on plants, animals, and the environment with expert guidance from the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The effects of wildfire smoke on human health<\/a> are infamous.1<\/sup> Smoke of all kinds, from wildfires to cigarettes, can worsen asthma, and cause tightness in the chest, dizziness, lightheadedness, and even lead to heart complications and asphyxiation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the effects of wildfire smoke on the environment are less widely known. Just as smoke adversely impacts human health, it can also harm plants, animals, and the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this article, we discuss the impact of wildfire smoke on the environment in terms of plant life, animal life, air quality<\/a>, and climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wildfires are a natural part of many landscapes. They can actually benefit plant life <\/a>by burning up excess debris on the ground to allow new growth to emerge.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, human interference with this cycle in the last few decades has caused the number of wildfire incidents to rise beyond natural levels. Manmade wildfires account for around 85% of wildfires in the United States every year.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n This means that plants, including grasses, shrubs, and even trees, are exposed to far more heat and smoke than under normal conditions. Smoke has the ability to block out sunlight and deprive plants<\/a> of the exposure they need to complete photosynthesis and stay alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientists are still learning about the effects of wildfire smoke on plant life, however, one study published in 2020 suggested that smoke can actually increase photosynthesis in plants by scattering radiation from the sun deeper into forests than direct sunlight can.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a hopeful sign in the short-term, but any potential benefit of smoke for plants is outweighed by the harm it causes to the rest of the environment, as well as the creatures who live in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wildfire smoke is equally detrimental to the health and well-being of non-human animals as it is to us. Smoke indiscriminately causes lung, throat, and mouth inflammation. Prolonged exposure can also cause animals to move more sluggishly, making it harder to escape if there is an active blaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, following a series of wildfires in Southeast Asia in 2015, researchers at the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station in Borneo noticed that a local group of orangutans moving more slowly than usual. After observing them and studying samples of their urine, the researchers concluded that the primates\u2019 low energy was the result of an immune response to lung inflammation caused by nearby wildfire smoke.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Wildfire smoke is also more dangerous to animals depending on the types of particulates it may be carrying. Research suggests that birds, in particular, are more sensitive to air pollutants than other animals, partly because they have a difficult time expelling foreign contaminants from their long tracheas.6<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike plant life, there are no benefits to animals inhaling wildfire smoke.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another environmental issue posed by wildfire smoke is its ability to travel and impact areas that are located thousands of miles away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If there is a large wildfire burning in a western state such as Oregon<\/a> or California<\/a>, the smoke has the potential to reach all the way to New York or other east coast states, nearly 3,000 miles away.7<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n As such, even if humans or animals live far away from a wildfire incident, they can still suffer from the effects of smoke exposure.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWildfire Smoke and the Impact on Plants<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wildfire Smoke and the Impact on Animals<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wildfire Smoke Travels, With the Ability to Impact Climates Thousands of Miles Away<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n