It is no surprise that wildfires affect air quality. The wildfires in California and Australia have had a substantial impact on air quality levels over time. Pictures like the one above show the large amounts of smoke and pollution produced by these forest fires in California.
But how exactly does the smoke from these California wildfires affect air quality levels? What exactly is in wildfire smoke?
What Type of Air Pollution Is In Wildfire Smoke?
As it turns out, there are a lot of things in wildfire smoke. According to the Environmental Protect Agency:
Smoke is composed primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapor, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbons and other organic chemicals, nitrogen oxides, trace minerals and several thousand other compounds.
But what pollutants should you be most concerned about?
Ultra-fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5)
Wildfires create large amounts of ultra-fine particulate matter such as PM2.5 and smaller. These tiny particles are a major health concern. Particulate matter is particles (solid or liquid) small enough to be absorbed directly into our bloodstream and enter our lungs, hearts, and brains.
WATCH: 5 Things You Should Know about PM2.5 Air Pollution
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Unfortunately, wildfire smoke is comprised largely of these dangerous ultra-fine particles!
How large are these tiny particles in wildfire smoke? It turns out, most wildfire particulate matter is extremely small, smaller than 1 micron. These small particles are more dangerous than large particles as they can penetrate deeper into your organs.
But how small is 1 micron? Below is a PM2.5 particle, larger than most particles in wildfire smoke. It makes a strain of hair look gigantic!
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
As a wildfire burns, it produces dangerous VOC gases. These VOC gases from wildfires include ethane, aldehydes, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde.
Breathing VOC gases found in wildfire smoke can have serious health effects.
Health effects of VOC gases from wildfire smoke include:
- Eyes, nose, and throat irritation
- Respiratory and neural problems
- Cancer
Other Toxic Gases
Wildfire smoke can contain other toxic gases including sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO).
In general, these toxic gases are only a concern if you are near the smoldering fire. If this is the case, be careful! Proximity to the smoldering fire will have higher levels of all of the dangerous pollution above. Furthermore, carbon monoxide is deadly.
Closer Look: How Do Wildfires in California and Australia Cause Air Pollution?
In 2020, Australia and California experienced record-breaking wildfires. How did these wildfires affect the air quality?
Australia Bushfires
In Australia, the bushfires of 2019-2020 caused air quality levels to exceed hazardous levels in the southeastern states of Victoria and New South Wales. This was primarily caused by the ultra-fine particulate pollution (such as PM2.5 and PM10) in the smoke.
The chart below shows the daily average PM2.5 air quality levels (AQI) for Canberra, Australia. During the worst of the bushfires in December 2019 and January 2020, the air quality was abnormally high, reaching hazardous levels.
The air quality got so bad in Australia from the bushfires that University of Tasmania environmental health professor Fay Johnston said more than 4,000 people were hospitalized from the smoke.
2020 California Wildfires
In 2020, California had one of its most severe and deadly wildfire seasons in history. The fires directly killed 37 people. However, this might not even be the worst of the fires. The poor air quality from the wildfire smoke affected millions on the west coast of the US.
The air quality across the West Coast from the California wildfires reached its worst levels in September 2020. Due to the wind direction, Portland and Seattle saw the worst of it, with Portland and Seattle air quality reaching hazardous levels. In September, this poor air quality from the California wildfires ranked Portland as the most polluted city in the world.
2023 California Wildfires
As of August 28, 2023, statistics from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) show that 4,936 fires have consumed 222,863 acres (90,189 hectares), marking a 90% reduction in burned hectares compared to the year 2020.
Visualize: How Bad Air Quality Gets From Wildfire Smoke
To get an idea of exactly how wildfires affect air quality, below are two PM2.5 pollution concentrations for comparison. This shows exactly how much of this dangerous ultra-fine there are in the air. The more particles, the more dangerous pollution you are breathing in!
Relative to Portland’s air quality during the wildfires, NYC’s worst day looks pretty good! However, the reality is even 42 µg/m3 is over 4 times greater than the WHO recommended limit. Moreover, Portland’s pollution concentration shown below was 47 times greater than the limit!
Bottom Line: How do wildfires in Australia and California affect air quality levels?
Wildfire smoke is full of dangerous pollution that can quickly spread to surrounding areas and create hazardous air quality levels. These include:
- Small particulate matter (including PM2.5 and smaller)
- VOCs (ethane, aldehydes, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde)
- Other toxic gases including sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO)
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