Short-term impacts of 2017 western North American wildfires on meteorology, the atmosphere’s energy budget, and premature mortality
Western North American fires have been increasing in magnitude and severity over the last few decades. The complex coupling of fires with the atmospheric energy budget and meteorology creates short-term feedbacks on regional weather altering the amount of pollution to which Americans are exposed. Us...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac02ee |
| _version_ | 1797747659263442944 |
|---|---|
| author | Diana N Bernstein Douglas S Hamilton Rosalie Krasnoff Natalie M Mahowald David S Connelly Simone Tilmes Peter G M Hess |
| author_facet | Diana N Bernstein Douglas S Hamilton Rosalie Krasnoff Natalie M Mahowald David S Connelly Simone Tilmes Peter G M Hess |
| author_sort | Diana N Bernstein |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Western North American fires have been increasing in magnitude and severity over the last few decades. The complex coupling of fires with the atmospheric energy budget and meteorology creates short-term feedbacks on regional weather altering the amount of pollution to which Americans are exposed. Using a combination of model simulations and observations, this study shows that the severe fires in the summer of 2017 increased atmospheric aerosol concentrations leading to a cooling of the air at the surface, reductions in sensible heat fluxes, and a lowering of the planetary boundary layer height over land. This combination of lower-boundary layer height and increased aerosol pollution from the fires reduces air quality. We estimate that from start of August to end of October 2017, ∼400 premature deaths occurred within the western US as a result of short-term exposure to elevated PM _2.5 from fire smoke. As North America confronts a warming climate with more fires the short-term climate and pollution impacts of increased fire activity should be assessed within policy aimed to minimize impacts of climate change on society. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:53:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6be3745e085a45ecbb5f50589f10812a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:53:43Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-6be3745e085a45ecbb5f50589f10812a2023-08-09T15:00:22ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262021-01-0116606406510.1088/1748-9326/ac02eeShort-term impacts of 2017 western North American wildfires on meteorology, the atmosphere’s energy budget, and premature mortalityDiana N Bernstein0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0827-9336Douglas S Hamilton1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8171-5723Rosalie Krasnoff2Natalie M Mahowald3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2873-997XDavid S Connelly4Simone Tilmes5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6557-3569Peter G M Hess6Division of Marine Science, School of Ocean Science & Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi , Stennis Space Center, MS, United States of America; Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY, United States of AmericaAtmospheric Chemistry, Observations and Modeling Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research , Boulder, CO, United States of AmericaDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY, United States of AmericaWestern North American fires have been increasing in magnitude and severity over the last few decades. The complex coupling of fires with the atmospheric energy budget and meteorology creates short-term feedbacks on regional weather altering the amount of pollution to which Americans are exposed. Using a combination of model simulations and observations, this study shows that the severe fires in the summer of 2017 increased atmospheric aerosol concentrations leading to a cooling of the air at the surface, reductions in sensible heat fluxes, and a lowering of the planetary boundary layer height over land. This combination of lower-boundary layer height and increased aerosol pollution from the fires reduces air quality. We estimate that from start of August to end of October 2017, ∼400 premature deaths occurred within the western US as a result of short-term exposure to elevated PM _2.5 from fire smoke. As North America confronts a warming climate with more fires the short-term climate and pollution impacts of increased fire activity should be assessed within policy aimed to minimize impacts of climate change on society.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac02eewildfiresaerosol health impactsmeteorology |
| spellingShingle | Diana N Bernstein Douglas S Hamilton Rosalie Krasnoff Natalie M Mahowald David S Connelly Simone Tilmes Peter G M Hess Short-term impacts of 2017 western North American wildfires on meteorology, the atmosphere’s energy budget, and premature mortality Environmental Research Letters wildfires aerosol health impacts meteorology |
| title | Short-term impacts of 2017 western North American wildfires on meteorology, the atmosphere’s energy budget, and premature mortality |
| title_full | Short-term impacts of 2017 western North American wildfires on meteorology, the atmosphere’s energy budget, and premature mortality |
| title_fullStr | Short-term impacts of 2017 western North American wildfires on meteorology, the atmosphere’s energy budget, and premature mortality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Short-term impacts of 2017 western North American wildfires on meteorology, the atmosphere’s energy budget, and premature mortality |
| title_short | Short-term impacts of 2017 western North American wildfires on meteorology, the atmosphere’s energy budget, and premature mortality |
| title_sort | short term impacts of 2017 western north american wildfires on meteorology the atmosphere s energy budget and premature mortality |
| topic | wildfires aerosol health impacts meteorology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac02ee |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT diananbernstein shorttermimpactsof2017westernnorthamericanwildfiresonmeteorologytheatmospheresenergybudgetandprematuremortality AT douglasshamilton shorttermimpactsof2017westernnorthamericanwildfiresonmeteorologytheatmospheresenergybudgetandprematuremortality AT rosaliekrasnoff shorttermimpactsof2017westernnorthamericanwildfiresonmeteorologytheatmospheresenergybudgetandprematuremortality AT nataliemmahowald shorttermimpactsof2017westernnorthamericanwildfiresonmeteorologytheatmospheresenergybudgetandprematuremortality AT davidsconnelly shorttermimpactsof2017westernnorthamericanwildfiresonmeteorologytheatmospheresenergybudgetandprematuremortality AT simonetilmes shorttermimpactsof2017westernnorthamericanwildfiresonmeteorologytheatmospheresenergybudgetandprematuremortality AT petergmhess shorttermimpactsof2017westernnorthamericanwildfiresonmeteorologytheatmospheresenergybudgetandprematuremortality |