Fire Effects on Air Quality Flashcards
Factors influencing smoke production
- weather and atmospheric conditions
- time of day
- fuel
- burn duration
- geographic location
- burn size
- topography
- time of year
Smoke
Gases + particulate matter
- impacts human health, visibility, environmental conditions
Particulate matter (PM)
- classified according to particle diameter: PM2.5 (particles 2.5 μm and smaller) and PM10 (particles 10.0 μm and smaller)
- over 80% of wildfire smoke = PM2.5
PM2.5
- can enter bloodstream through lungs when breathed in
- comparable to smoking cigarettes
- causes increased deaths worldwide
Air quality index (AQI)
Shows how polluted air is
- 0-50 = good
- 51-100 = moderate
- 101-150 = unhealthy for sensitive groups
- 151-200 = unhealthy
- 201-300 = very unhealthy
- 300 and higher = hazardous
Smoke exposure symptoms
Short-term: chest pain, runny nose, burning eyes, rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing, coughing, fatigue
Long-term: reduced lung function, chronic bronchitis, worsening of asthma, heart failure
Higher risk groups
- adults over 65
- children
- pregnant people
- people with existing lung/heart conditions
- people with weakened immune systems
Prescribed burns vs. wildfires
Emission levels are much less for prescribed burns
Case study: Grand Canyon visibility
Smoke management methods
- Reduce emissions
- Redistribute emissions
Reduce emissions
- reduce area burned (burn fuel concentrations, isolate fuels, mosaic burning)
- reduce fuel load (mechanical removal, firewood sales, biomass utilization, grazing)
- reduce fuel consumed
Redistribute emissions
- burn when dispersion is good (ideally, atmosphere should be slightly unstable so smoke will rise and dissipate, but not so unstable as to cause a control problem)
- avoid sensitive areas
- share the airshed
- burn smaller units
- burn bigger units and have less burn days
Adaptive management
Experimental building of knowledge about how to use prescribed fire/manage a landscape
