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: