WILDFIRES produce hazardous levels of low-level ozone that could aggravate illnesses such as emphysema.
Fires release nitrogen oxides that react with organic compounds under sunlight to form ozone. Gabriele Pfister of the US National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, found that regions downwind of the 2007 California fires were three times as likely as other areas to see ozone levels above official health limits. She says the effects reached as far as Nevada, even “where people don’t see smoke” (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2008GL034747).
The work may discourage adoption of the controversial idea that wildfires should be…
