Wildfire smoke erases years of air quality progress
While visible soot and ash often grab headlines, drifting wildfire gases create invisible smog that can reverse decades of pollution control gains.
For decades, air quality in the United States steadily improved as regulations reduced industrial emissions. However, this trend shifted around 2015 when intensifying wildfires began to offset these gains. In the Midwest, smoke from distant blazes has erased an estimated 5.3 years of progress in controlling ground-level ozone, the primary ingredient in harmful smog.
Continue Reading in App
2 more paragraphs · plus a 3-question quiz