野火的排放使空气质量恶化,并可能对人类健康产生不利影响。这项研究利用了NCAR(FINN)的火灾清单作为野火排放,并使用美国环境保护署CMAQ模型在两种情况下进行了2012年4月至10月,2013年和2014年的空气质量建模:有和没有野火排放。然后,这项研究评估了火灾引起的PM2.5对健康的影响和经济价值。结果表明,在美国,野火每年可能导致4000例过早死亡,相当于360亿美元的损失。火灾引起的PM2.5浓度高的地区在西部(例如,爱达荷州,蒙大拿州,和加利福尼亚北部)和东南部(例如,阿拉巴马,格鲁吉亚)。位于火源附近的大都市地区,表现出巨大的健康负担,比如洛杉矶(119人过早死亡,对应10.7亿美元),亚特兰大(76,6.9亿美元),和休斯顿(65,5.8亿美元)。西部大火顺风的地区,尽管火灾引起的PM2.5值相对较低,但由于人口众多,显示出明显的健康负担,如纽约大都市区(86,7.8亿美元),芝加哥(60,5.4亿美元),和匹兹堡(32,2.9亿美元)。结果表明,野火的影响是巨大的,为了减轻这些影响,需要更好的森林管理和更具弹性的基础设施。
Emissions from wildfires worsen air quality and can adversely impact human health. This study utilized the fire inventory from NCAR (FINN) as wildfire emissions, and performed air quality modeling of April-October 2012, 2013, and 2014 using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency CMAQ model under two cases: with and without wildfire emissions. This study then assessed the health impacts and economic values attributable to PM2.5 from fires. Results indicated that wildfires could lead annually to 4000 cases of premature mortality in the U.S., corresponding to $36 billion losses. Regions with high concentrations of fire-induced PM2.5 were in the west (e.g., Idaho, Montana, and northern California) and Southeast (e.g., Alabama, Georgia). Metropolitan areas located near fire sources, exhibited large health burdens, such as Los Angeles (119 premature deaths, corresponding to $1.07 billion), Atlanta (76, $0.69 billion), and Houston (65, $0.58 billion). Regions in the downwind of western fires, although experiencing relatively low values of fire-induced PM2.5, showed notable health burdens due to their large population, such as metropolitan areas of New York (86, $0.78 billion), Chicago (60, $0.54 billion), and Pittsburgh (32, $0.29 billion). Results suggest that impacts from wildfires are substantial, and to mitigate these impacts, better forest management and more resilient infrastructure would be needed.