Wildfires in the Western US May Improve Air Quality in the East

A new study has found that the intense heat from wildfires in the western US may actually improve air quality in the eastern part of the country. Researchers found that the heat from these fires creates updrafts that excite waves in the jet stream, which in turn reduces air pollution. By analyzing real-world air quality data and running detailed climate models, the scientists were able to see the surprising role of heat in cleaning the air. This discovery is important because most climate models only consider smoke and not heat, leading to a significant overestimation of the negative consequences of wildfires.

Key Takeaways:

• The intense heat from wildfires in the western US may actually improve air quality in the eastern part of the country by creating updrafts that excite waves in the jet stream, which reduces air pollution.
• Researchers analyzed real-world air quality data from 2005 to 2015 and ran detailed climate models to see how the atmosphere would react to certain conditions.
• The scientists found that neglecting the effect of fire heat on PM2.5 pollution leads to an overestimation of 1,200 additional premature deaths and 3.3 billion USD in economic losses, particularly in the densely populated EUS.
• Climate models only consider smoke and not heat, leading to an overestimation of the negative consequences of wildfires.
• The discovery of this beneficial effect is important for policymakers and fire managers to understand the effects of wildfires and allocate resources accordingly.
• Qihan Ma et al, researchers behind the study, state that their findings highlight the need for more comprehensive climate models that consider both smoke and heat.

Statistics:

• 1,200 additional premature deaths per year are overestimated due to neglecting the effect of fire heat on PM2.5 pollution.
• 3.3 billion USD in economic losses per year are overestimated due to neglecting the effect of fire heat on PM2.5 pollution.
• The total number of premature deaths in the eastern US due to wildfire smoke is hundreds of thousands per year.

Sources:

• Qihan Ma et al, Fire heat affects the impacts of wildfires on air pollution in the United States, Science (2025) DOI: 10.1126/science.ads1957
• Yun Qian, Burning questions on wildfire, Science (2025) DOI: 10.1126/science.aea7430
• A pollution paradox: Wildfires in the western United States may improve air quality (2025, September 12) retrieved 12 September 2025 from https://phys.org/news/2025-09-pollution-paradox-wildfires-western-states.html