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• Posted September 19, 2025

Wildfire Smoke Now Kills 41,000 Americans a Year, Study Finds

Every summer, hazy skies and the smell of burning wood remind Americans that wildfires affect far more than just the communities where they ignite.

Their smoke drifts for hundreds, even thousands of miles, darkening the air in cities across the nation. But the health impact goes far beyond watery eyes and coughs.

A new study shows wildfire smoke is now responsible for more than 41,000 deaths in the United States every year.

And by 2050? Researchers warn that smoke could become the deadliest climate-driven threat to Americans, claiming tens of thousands more lives each year.

Further, by midcentury, smoke-related deaths are expected to climb by another 26,500 to 30,000 per year, making wildfire smoke the deadliest climate-driven health threat for Americans, more dangerous than extreme heat, crop losses or rising energy costs, according to the study published Sept. 18 in the journal Nature.

“Wildfire smoke is a much larger health risk than we might have understood previously,” study author Marshall Burke, a professor of environmental social sciences at Stanford University, said in a news report published by NBC News.

The research estimated deaths by combining data with satellite smoke tracking and climate models. The results suggest wildfire smoke is erasing decades of clean air progress from the Clean Air Act, especially in western states and places such as New York.

Experts warn that tiny particles in smoke can lodge deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream, raising the risk of asthma, lung cancer, preterm birth, miscarriage and heart disease.

And when wildfires burn buildings and plastics and not just trees, the mix of chemicals may be even more toxic.

Dr. Joel Kaufman of the University of Washington, who studies air pollution, said, “These results imply, if anything, wildfire smoke may be more toxic” than other common forms of pollution.

The study projects that the annual death toll tied to wildfire smoke will rise 64% to 73% by 2050.

While the findings rely on models rather than individual death tracking, health leaders say, this shows why it’s urgent to act on climate change and protect the air we breathe.

“It strengthens what we are saying about wildfires being connected to climate change and subsequent public health impacts,” said Dr. John Balmes of the American Lung Association.

More information

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has more on the health effects attributed to wildfire smoke.

SOURCE: NBC News, Sept. 18, 2025