PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD

Vox—Scientists fear the Western wildfires could lead to long-term lung damage

Young children, older adults, and people with preexisting conditions face the highest risks.

During the peak of the recent wildfires, cities like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, suffered some of the dirtiest air in the world, making breathing the air like smoking a pack of cigarettes in a day.

The smoke from these fires has shrouded millions of people in dirty air, as you can see in this map of air quality from Esri, a geographic information software firm:

PHOTOS FROM THE FIELD

Reuters—How wildfires ravaging the U.S. West Coast are sending smoke between continents and up to record heights in the atmosphere

Last week, smoke from the fires covered the entire U.S. West Coast before spreading west out over the Pacific Ocean. This week the smoke has travelled thousands of miles east, turning skies from New York to Washington D.C. hazy and reaching as far as the skies above Britain.

In the animation above, Reuters visualises organic carbon released into the atmosphere during the fires. The smoke contains a substantial portion of fine particulate matter known by the particles’ size as PM2.5, which can have a major impact on people’s health. Continue reading here.