California Wildfires: Analyzing Environmental, Health, And Regional Impacts With Air Quality Correlations
Keywords:
Wildfire, California Wildfires, Air Quality Index (AQI), Ozone Levels, Seasonal Wildfire, Forest and Land Area Burned, Environmental Health Risks, Climatic InfluenceAbstract
Wildfire activity has become one of the most sensational and urgent issues in the United States after the Tornadoes event. Overviewing the chronological data of the past 24 years, it has been observed that wildfires have increased in severity, frequency and intensity, posing serious detrimental impacts on the health of humankind, and ecological disturbance. This research analyzes wildfire occurrence data across California from 2000 to 2023 using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify patterns of wildfire activity, mapping affected areas focused on land and forest. It also highlights the correlation between wildfires and PM2.5 & ozone pollutants to measure the Air Quality Index (AQI).
References
Brey, S. J., & Fischer, E. V. (2021). Smoke in the city: How wildfires affect urban air quality and health. Environmental Research Letters, 16(5), 054040.
CAL FIRE. (2023). California wildfire statistics and reports. Retrieved from [CAL FIRE Website].
Carreras-Sospedra, M., Zhu, S., MacKinnon, M., Lassman, W., Mirocha, J. D., Barbato, M., & Dabdub, D. (2024). Air quality and health impacts of the 2020 wildfires in California. Fire Ecology, 20(1), 6.
Di, Q., Wang, Y., Zanobetti, A., Wang, Y., Koutrakis, P., Choirat, C., Dominici, F., & Schwartz, J. D. (2017). Air pollution and mortality in the Medicare population. The New England Journal of Medicine, 376(26), 2513-2522. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1702747
Jaffe, D. A., O’Neill, S. M., Larkin, N. K., Holder, A. L., Peterson, D. L., Halofsky, J. E., & Rappold, A. G. (2020). Wildfire and prescribed burning impacts on air quality in the United States. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 70(6), 583-615
Keeley, J. E., & Syphard, A. D. (2018). Historical patterns of wildfire ignition sources in California ecosystems. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 27(9), 569-583.
Keeley, J. E., & Syphard, A. D. (2021). Large California wildfires: 2020 fires in historical context. Fire Ecology, 17, 1-11.
Liu, J. C., Pereira, G., Uhl, S. A., Bravo, M. A., & Bell, M. L. (2017). Wildfire smoke and its health impacts: A review. Environmental Health Perspectives, 125(9), 095002. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP827
McClure, C. D., & Jaffe, D. A. (2018). US particulate matter air quality improves except in wildfire-prone areas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(31), 7901-7906.
National Interagency Fire Center. (2023). Total wildfires and acres. Retrieved from [NIFC Website].
Radeloff, V. C., et al. (2018). Rapid growth of the U.S. wildland-urban interface raises wildfire risk. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(13), 3314-3319.
Reid, C. E., Brauer, M., Johnston, F. H., Jerrett, M., Balmes, J. R., & Elliott, C. T. (2016). Critical review of health impacts of wildfire smoke exposure. Environmental Health Perspectives, 124(9), 1334-1343. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1409277
Rappold, A. G., et al. (2021). Cardiorespiratory effects of wildfire smoke exposure in California: Evidence from sensor networks. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 204(6), 655-663.
Westerling, A. L. (2018). Wildfire simulations for California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment. California’s Climate Change Assessment.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. (2020). 2020 Fire Season Overview.
Di, Q., et al. (2017). Air pollution and mortality in the Medicare population. New England Journal of Medicine, 376(26), 2513-2522.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). (2019). Camp Fire Incident Report. Retrieved from https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2018/11/8/camp-fire/
CAL FIRE. (2023). California wildfire statistics and reports. Retrieved from [CAL FIRE Website].
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2022). Wildfire smoke and health effects. Retrieved from [EPA Website].
National Interagency Fire Center. (2023). Total wildfires and acres. Retrieved from [NIFC Website].
U.S. Forest Service. (n.d.). National USFS final fire perimeter feature layer [Data set]. Data.gov. https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/national-usfs-final-fire-perimeter-feature-layer-80014/resource/0b7889c3-9f64-4879-8ccb-0d0ee187a33a
Esri. (n.d.). ArcGIS interactive map [Map]. ArcGIS Online. https://www.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=523a69c13aad431083b4edde79ce24e3&extent=-123.1604,38.1876,-121.9307,38.7125
U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). TIGER/Line shapefiles and geodatabases [Data set]. https://www.census.gov/geographies/mapping-files/time-series/geo/tiger-line-file.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Outdoor air quality data [Data set]. U.S. EPA. https://www.epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data