RESUMO
The 2022 wildfires in New Mexico, United States, were unparalleled compared to past wildfires in the state in both their scale and intensity, resulting in poor air quality and a catastrophic loss of habitat and livelihood. Among all wildfires in New Mexico in 2022, six wildfires were selected for our study based on the size of the burn area and their proximity to populated areas. These fires accounted for approximately 90 % of the total burn area in New Mexico in 2022. We used a regional chemical transport model and data-fusion technique to quantify the contribution of these six wildfires (April 6 to August 22) on particulate matter (PM2.5: diameter ≤ 2.5 µm) and ozone (O3) concentrations, as well as the associated health impacts from short-term exposure. We estimated that these six wildfires emitted 152 thousand tons of PM2.5 and 287 thousand tons of volatile organic compounds to the atmosphere. We estimated that the average daily wildfire smoke PM2.5 across New Mexico was 0.3 µg/m3, though 1 h maximum exceeded 120 µg/m3 near Santa Fe. Average wildfire smoke maximum daily average 8-h O3 (MDA8-O3) contribution was 0.2 ppb during the study period over New Mexico. However, over the state 1 h maximum smoke O3 exceeded 60 ppb in some locations near Santa Fe. Estimated all-cause excess mortality attributable to short term exposure to wildfire PM2.5 and MDA8-O3 from these six wildfires were 18 (95 % Confidence Interval (CI), 15-21) and 4 (95 % CI: 3-6) deaths. Additionally, we estimate that wildfire PM2.5 was responsible for 171 (95 %: 124-217) excess cases of asthma emergency department visits. Our findings underscore the impact of wildfires on air quality and human health risks, which are anticipated to intensify with global warming, even as local anthropogenic emissions decline.
Assuntos
Poluição do Ar , Incêndios Florestais , Poluição do Ar/estatística & dados numéricos , New Mexico , Nível de Saúde , Incêndios Florestais/estatística & dados numéricos , Material Particulado/análise , Monitoramento Ambiental , Exposição por Inalação/estatística & dados numéricos , Modelos Estatísticos , Humanos , Mortalidade PrematuraRESUMO
Monitoring improved cookstove adoption and usage in developing countries can help anticipate potential health and environmental benefits that may result from household energy interventions. This study explores stove-usage monitor (SUM)-derived usage data from field studies in China (52 stoves, 1422 monitoring days), Honduras (270 stoves, 630 monitoring days), India (19 stoves, 565 monitoring days), and Uganda (38 stoves, 1007 monitoring days). Traditional stove usage was found to be generally similar among four seemingly disparate countries in terms of cooking habits, with average usage of between 171 and 257 minutes per day for the most-used stoves. In Honduras, where survey-based usage data were also collected, there was only modest agreement between sensor data and self-reported user data. For Indian homes, we combined stove-usage data with a single-zone Monte Carlo box model to estimate kitchen-level PM2.5 and CO concentrations under various scenarios of cleaner cookstove adoption. We defined clean cookstove performance based on the International Standards Organization (ISO) voluntary guidelines. Model results showed that even with 75% displacement of traditional stoves with the cleanest available stove (ISO tier-5), World Health Organization 24 hours PM2.5 standards were exceeded in 96.4% of model runs, underscoring the importance of full displacement.