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California Case Study of Wildfires and Prescribed Burns: PM2.5 Emissions, Concentrations, and Implications for Human Health.
Kiely, Laura; Neyestani, Soroush E; Binte-Shahid, Samiha; York, Robert A; Porter, William C; Barsanti, Kelley C.
Afiliação
  • Kiely L; Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, United States.
  • Neyestani SE; Now at: Scion, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand.
  • Binte-Shahid S; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, United States.
  • York RA; Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, United States.
  • Porter WC; Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
  • Barsanti KC; Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California 92521, United States.
Environ Sci Technol ; 58(12): 5210-5219, 2024 Mar 26.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38483184
ABSTRACT
Wildfires are a significant threat to human health, in part through degraded air quality. Prescribed burning can reduce wildfire severity but can also lead to an increase in air pollution. The complexities of fires and atmospheric processes lead to uncertainties when predicting the air quality impacts of fire and make it difficult to fully assess the costs and benefits of an expansion of prescribed fire. By modeling differences in emissions, surface conditions, and meteorology between wildfire and prescribed burns, we present a novel comparison of the air quality impacts of these fire types under specific scenarios. One wildfire and two prescribed burn scenarios were considered, with one prescribed burn scenario optimized for potential smoke exposure. We found that PM2.5 emissions were reduced by 52%, from 0.27 to 0.14 Tg, when fires burned under prescribed burn conditions, considerably reducing PM2.5 concentrations. Excess short-term mortality from PM2.5 exposure was 40 deaths for fires under wildfire conditions and 39 and 15 deaths for fires under the default and optimized prescribed burn scenarios, respectively. Our findings suggest prescribed burns, particularly when planned during conditions that minimize smoke exposure, could be a net benefit for the impacts of wildfires on air quality and health.
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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Incêndios Florestais / Poluentes Atmosféricos / Poluição do Ar / Material Particulado Limite: Humans País/Região como assunto: America do norte Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2024 Tipo de documento: Article

Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Assunto principal: Incêndios Florestais / Poluentes Atmosféricos / Poluição do Ar / Material Particulado Limite: Humans País/Região como assunto: America do norte Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2024 Tipo de documento: Article