The far-reaching effects of wildfires and wildfire smoke are no longer aberrations, researchers write in a new paper.<\/p>\n
Record-setting wildfires torched huge swaths of western states in 2020. They blotted out the sun, produced hazardous air pollution in cities far from the blazes, and sent toxic smoke wafting clear across the country and beyond.<\/p>\n
The number of homes at direct risk from wildfires\u2014and the investment in firefighting resources to protect them\u2014is on the rise. Nearly 50 million homes in the US now sit in the wildland-urban interface where houses are close to forests and highly combustible vegetation, according to the authors of the paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of 糖心视频s<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n