Extreme heat and wildfire smoke, potentially lethal on their own, can act in concert to produce increased damage to people’s hearts and respiratory systems, according to researchers.
ZIP codes in red were shown to have increased relative excess health risks due to interaction (RERI) of smoke and heat among residents.
A new study led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego in collaboration with the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health analyzed California health records during episodes of dangerous heat and exposure to wildfire smoke from 2006 to 2019, broken down by ZIP code. They found that synergistic effects between wildfire smoke and extreme heat were most pronounced in mountain, central valley, and large coastal metropolitan areas. Communities of the NorthNet Library System were shown to have increased relative excess health risks due to interaction (RERI) of smoke and heat among residents. Read the Executive Summary and Full Article.
CITATIONS:
Chen, C., Schwarz, L., Rosenthal, N., Marlier, M. E., & Benmarhnia, T. (2024). Exploring spatial heterogeneity in synergistic effects of compound climate hazards: Extreme heat and wildfire smoke on cardiorespiratory hospitalizations in California. Science Advances, 10(5), eadj7264. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj7264