Climate Change and Public Health

A new study in the journal Science Advances estimates that long‑term exposure to fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) from wildfire smoke contributed to an average of 24,100 deaths per year in the contiguous United States between 2006 and 2020. Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai analyzed annual county‑level PM2.5 from wildfires and federal mortality data across 3,068 counties, finding elevated deaths from circulatory, respiratory, neurological and other chronic diseases tied to chronic smoke exposure. Outside experts like UCLA environmental health scientist Michael Jerrett, who was not involved in the work, say the numbers are plausible and add to a growing body of research showing wildfire smoke is a major, under‑recognized health hazard even far from active fires. Prior regional studies in California and Los Angeles suggest recent megafires, such as the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires, likely caused hundreds of excess deaths on top of immediate fire fatalities. The authors and other scientists stress that climate change, decades of forest mismanagement and growing development at the wildland‑urban interface are driving more intense fires and smoke seasons, underscoring the need for stronger air‑quality protections, emergency planning and climate policy in fire‑prone and downwind U.S. communities.