Western wildfires pose a much broader threat to human health than to just those forced to evacuate the path of the blazes. Smoke from these fires, which have burned millions of acres in California alone, is choking vast swaths of the country, an analysis of federal satellite imagery by NPR’s California Newsroom and Stanford University’s Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab found.
This year is on track to be California’s worst wildfire season. With more wildfires comes more smoke and more health problems. That’s why NPR’s California Newsroom partnered with Stanford University’s Environmental Change and Human Outcomes Lab.