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Colleen Reid in The Conversation: Yes, breathing wildfire smoke can harm your health – here’s what you can do to protect yourself

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 19:17:27 +0000

Colleen Reid in The Conversation: Yes, breathing wildfire smoke can harm your health – here’s what you can do to protect yourself Gabriela Rocha Sales Tue, 07/28/2026 - 13:17

Colleen E. Reid

This article has been copied from The Conversation for archival purposes.

Wildfire smoke from fires burning in Canada and northern Minnesota has been pouring across the Great Lakes and northeastern U.S. states, turning skies an eerie shade of orange. In the West, smoke has also been spreading into communities in Colorado and neighboring states as more wildfires burn in hot, dry conditions in July 2026.

University of Colorado environmental health researcher Colleen Reid explains what’s in that smoke and why breathing it is a health concern everyone should be aware of.

What is in wildfire smoke?

Wildfire smoke is a complex mixture that includes nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter. When homes or buildings also burn, they can release an even more toxic stew of chemicals from burning electronics, furniture, plastics, paints and much more.

What you see when you see a smoke plume or when the air is hazy with wildfire smoke are the tiny particles that are too small to fall to the ground right away with gravity.

These particles, which scientists call particulate matter, are very small – we measure them in microns. When you breathe them in, they can harm your health. The smaller the particles, the deeper they can get into your lungs and body.

You may have heard the term PM2.5. It means particles that are 2.5 microns or smaller in diameter, many times smaller than the width of a human hair. High concentrations of these particles in the air during wildfire smoke episodes are what trigger air quality alerts.

Has wildfire smoke been increasing recently, and why?

Yes, wildfires have become more frequent and more intense just in the past couple of decades, and when wildfires become more frequent and intense, so does the smoke.

Scientists have found that wildfires are becoming more frequent due to a variety of factors that include increases in fire weather – hot, dry, windy conditions that fuel the spread of fires due to climate change – as well as other natural and human factors. The reasons for the increases in wildfires vary in different parts of the world.

Other studies have found that wildfire smoke makes up an increasing portion of the PM2.5 in the air in the U.S., and in many areas it is offsetting the decreases in air pollution that the U.S. has gained through regulations of industrial and vehicle emissions under the Clean Air Act.

How could wildfire smoke affect my health?

Some effects of breathing wildfire smoke include shortness of breath, coughing, itchy or watery eyes, headaches, rashes and itchiness. But smoke can cause more serious harm. Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that hospitalizations and emergency department visits for asthma and other respiratory diseases increase during wildfire smoke events.

After you breathe in the particles, they cause inflammation and oxidative stress, and they can move into the blood and spread throughout the body, affecting other organ systems.

Breathing wildfire smoke has been associated with higher risk of preterm births and other issues during pregnancy, and potentially cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and strokes, although the evidence for these effects are more mixed.

The longer-term health effects of wildfire smoke are less clear, but it is a growing area of research.

Where can I learn more about wildfire smoke risks where I live?

The first thing to do to protect yourself from wildfire smoke is to know how bad the smoke is and how long it is going to last.

One great place to get information for where you live on current wildfire smoke is fire.airnow.gov. You can zoom in on the map to where you live and find color-coded circles reflecting data from both U.S. EPA air-quality monitors and PurpleAir sensors that people have put in their homes.

The colors show the level of PM2.5 at that location and suggest the associated health risk.

To find out how wildfire smoke is expected to change over time in North America, you can look at maps from FireSmoke Canada and the U.S. Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program.

What can I do to protect myself and my family from wildfire smoke?

First of all, depending on the level of the air quality index where you are, there are different recommendations. When wildfire smoke reaches unhealthy levels, stay indoors as much as possible, with doors and windows shut to keep the wildfire smoke out.

If you have an air cleaner, use it, but check the filter, as filters can fill up quickly. Similarly, check the filter on your home HVAC system and replace it if needed.

If you have to go outside, consider wearing a well-fitting N95, KN95 or KF94 mask. These masks can protect you from inhaling particles in the air around you. Looser masks, such as surgical masks, mostly protect others from what you breathe out instead. They do not have a tight seal around your mouth, and when you breathe in, the air with all of the particles can find its way around the sides of the mask.

Having a tight fit of the mask to your face is important so that when you breathe, the air is going through the mask and capturing the smoke particles rather than letting them into your body where they cause harm.

If your home is leaky and you can see haze inside, consider going to a public space, such as a library or mall, with a good HVAC system. Some municipalities have designated clean air spaces where anyone can go.

Wildfire smoke from fires burning in Canada and northern Minnesota has been pouring across the Great Lakes and northeastern U.S. states, turning skies an eerie shade of orange...

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Jennifer Balch and Environmental Data Science Innovation & Impact Lab (ESIIL) are launching the Fast Fire Network

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:34:44 +0000

Jennifer Balch and Environmental Data Science Innovation & Impact Lab (ESIIL) are launching the Fast Fire Network Gabriela Rocha Sales Thu, 07/09/2026 - 11:34

Dr. Jennifer Balch, Director of the Environmental Data Science Innovation & Impact Lab (ESIIL), CIRES Fellow, and Professor of Geography at the �ֲ��ý, is leading an NSF-funded FIRE-NET project to create the Fast Fire Network to develop urgently needed solutions for fast-moving fire events across the US West. An emphasis will be placed on using innovative AI tools to leverage the big data revolution to explore the topics of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability as they relate to fast fires.

The goal of this network is to bring together fire scientists, social scientists, data scientists, practitioners, and industry partners to develop urgently needed solutions for fast fire events.

If you are interested in contributing to the Fast Fire Network, please complete this form. For more information visit the Balch Fire Lab and ESIIL websites.

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John O'Loughlin in The Conversation: We asked Ukrainians what they think of Trump – more view him as an enemy than a friend

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 13:47:02 +0000

John O'Loughlin in The Conversation: We asked Ukrainians what they think of Trump – more view him as an enemy than a friend Gabriela Rocha Sales Thu, 07/09/2026 - 07:47

U.S. President Donald Trump lauded the “very good relationship” he has developed with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the NATO summit in Turkey on July 8, 2026...

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Esmee Mulder Receives the the Society of Woman Geographers' Evelyn L. Pruitt Fellowship for 2026-2027

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 14:08:45 +0000

Esmee Mulder Receives the the Society of Woman Geographers' Evelyn L. Pruitt Fellowship for 2026-2027 Gabriela Rocha Sales Tue, 06/30/2026 - 08:08

Congratulations to our Geography Ph.D. Student, Esmee Mulder, for receiving the Society of Woman Geographers' Evelyn L. Pruitt Fellowship for 2026-2027!

Esmee's project is titled, "Seeing like a Satellite, Knowing Like a Pastoralist: Epistemic Justice and Collaboration in East African Rangelands".

The Society of Woman Geographers (SWG) Evelyn L. Pruitt National Fellowship for Dissertation Research is made possible by a generous bequest from Ms. Evelyn L. Pruitt. Ms. Pruitt was a research geographer with the United States Navy. Her work greatly advanced the study of coastal environments, the use of remote sensing in geography, and field research in international settings from the 1940s into the 1970s.

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John O'Loughlin Embarks on his 2nd 'Mad Journey' - from the Gulf to Canada

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 15:16:17 +0000

John O'Loughlin Embarks on his 2nd 'Mad Journey' - from the Gulf to Canada Gabriela Rocha Sales Tue, 06/23/2026 - 09:16

Geography Professor John O'Loughlin embarked on his second 'Mad Journey' on June 20th, 2026. This time he is biking from New Orleans to the Canada border. You can follow in his journey and commentary on his blog, Johno's 'mad journey' 2.

Johno's first 'Mad Journey' was in Summer 2013 to celebrate his 65th birthday. "Johno celebrated his youth by hopping on his bike and riding 3,356.7 miles across the United States in just 42 days. Because of his professorial duties, he was on a tight schedule and had to ride as many as 120 miles in a day, while heading from Oregon to New Jersey." Johno's blogs from his original journey can be found here.

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Ellen Considine: Indonesia’s air quality got worse after China banned plastic waste imports

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:42:03 +0000

Ellen Considine: Indonesia’s air quality got worse after China banned plastic waste imports Gabriela Rocha Sales Tue, 06/02/2026 - 13:42

Brigitta Rongstad Strong

Copied from the original for archival purposes.

Written by Brigitta Rongstad Strong

Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Indonesia’s air quality got worse after China banned plastic waste imports

New research links a global waste policy shift to increased air pollution from open burning at Indonesian dump sites

When China banned plastic waste imports in 2018, countries like the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, and Japan didn’t stop exporting plastic waste — they diverted their shipments to countries in Southeast Asia.

New research led by CIRES Fellow Ellen Considine shows that air pollution in Indonesia worsened in 2018 and 2019, when the country began receiving some of the plastic waste that previously went to China. Municipal waste collection is limited in Indonesia and open burning of solid waste is common.

The work, published today in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society - Series C: Applied Statistics, highlights a recurring environmental justice issue: wealthy nations exporting pollution and the consequences in lower-income countries with less capacity to refuse or manage it.

“When high-income countries ship plastic waste to low- and middle-income countries, more plastic waste tends to be burned,” said Considine, who is also an assistant professor of Geography at CU �ֲ��ý. “This releases air pollutants that can cause respiratory disease, cancer, or even death to local residents.”

Considine and her co-author, Rachel Nethery from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, leveraged satellite data to evaluate changes in fine particulate matter at 356 open dump sites in Indonesia before and after China’s ban on plastic waste imports. Fine particulate matter is the air pollutant of greatest concern for human health because it consists of particles small enough to penetrate human lungs and enter the bloodstream.

“Previous studies of the impact of plastic waste burning on air quality have been more localized, for instance by deploying an air quality monitor in a couple of locations for a few months,” Considine said. “Our approach is powerful because it allows us to look at air pollution changes over a large study region and time period and identify a connection to plastic waste imports.”

The team used advanced statistical methods to determine how much of the increase in air pollution was due to China’s policy change and waste burning versus other factors that vary over time, like weather.

The results suggest the policy change and waste burning caused an average 3.3 percent increase in fine particulate matter at open waste dump sites in Indonesia in 2018 and 2019 compared to 2012 to 2017. The potential health impacts are significant; the increase in fine particulate matter corresponds with an approximate 1.9 percent increase in mortality risk from lung cancer and a 3.5 percent increase in mortality risk from lower respiratory infections.

“Methods like this, for evaluating the impact of policies, have historically been developed by economists but have more recently been adapted by public health and environmental scientists,” Considine said.

The analysis reveals a potential chain reaction after China’s ban: some of the plastic waste that used to end up in China was diverted to Indonesia, leading to more open dumping and burning of plastic waste, which generated more fine particulate matter air pollution.

Considine and Nethery’s work supports recent decisions by Indonesia and Malaysia, another country impacted by China’s policy change, to ban plastic waste imports. The team’s approach can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of these and future policies related to plastic waste and open burning.

“I am inspired by stories of air pollution research being used to inform policy decisions, ” Considine said. “Efforts like ours help fill critical evidence gaps in places and for applications with more limited data.”

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Assitant Professor Isaac Rivera Receives Research & Innovation Office (RIO) Arts & Humanities Grant

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Thu, 14 May 2026 20:38:25 +0000

Assitant Professor Isaac Rivera Receives Research & Innovation Office (RIO) Arts & Humanities Grant Gabriela Rocha Sales Thu, 05/14/2026 - 14:38

Congratulations our Geography Assistant Professor, Isaac Rivera, for receiving one of the Research & Innovation Office's (RIO) Arts & Humanities Grants!

Dr. Rivera's project is titled, "Grounded Relations & Repair: A Native Assembled Cartography of Colorado".

The RIO Arts & Humanities Grant Program reflects the vital role the arts and humanities play across the university—fostering connection, inviting a range of perspectives and encouraging deeper exploration of the human experience.

Find out more about the award and other recipients here.

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Annika Hirmke Receives Wenner-Gren Fellowship for her Dissertation Research on Community Solar in Montana

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:03:34 +0000

Annika Hirmke Receives Wenner-Gren Fellowship for her Dissertation Research on Community Solar in Montana Gabriela Rocha Sales Wed, 04/15/2026 - 12:03

Annika is a PhD candidate in the doctoral program of Geography at CU �ֲ��ý working with Prof. Jill Harrison and Prof. Joe Bryan. Her dissertation project titled “Solar Possibilities: Community Solar Against Monopoly Power” investigates the promises of community solar in Montana where the renewable energy industry in Montana has picked up significant speed in recent years, but most projects built end up exporting energy and serving communities outside Montana. In this context, community solar promises accessibility and benefit to the communities in its direct vicinity and environmental organizers have increasingly pushed for these kinds of projects amidst escalating electricity costs, higher frequency of extreme weather disrupting the grid, and rising energy demand in the state.

The Wenner-Gren dissertation fieldwork grant funds research that advances anthropological knowledge. This prestigious grant will support Annika in conducting in-depth fieldwork for the remainder of the year, enabling her to build deeper community relationships, work with environmental organizers, and conduct research across the state and across several community solar sites. With the support of several other awards from CU and the Department of Geography (CARTSS, Beverly Sears, Dinaburg Memorial Fellowship, and the John Pitlick Field Research Award), Annika has already gotten started on this fieldwork and has learned a lot about the different community solar sites and statewide energy landscapes which the remaining research will build on.

The dissertation research includes an ethnographic study of three existing community solar projects and how these three sites fit into the larger energy landscape in Montana and beyond. While each of these sites are created by rural electric cooperatives (more directly governed by the membership they serve) and share the same basic structure of community solar, their experience and (re)imagination of energy and space differ in ways that shape the infrastructural problems they aim to solve and how they do so. 1) Fergus Electric Cooperative (Lewistown): In “cattle country” this project serves an agricultural region and former gold rush area struggling with changing economic conditions and billionaires driving up the price of land. Community solar offers a path to economic survival through saved costs and to promote the use of renewables when climate change threatens their way of life. 2) Beartooth Electric Cooperative (Red Lodge): Historically central to Montana’s coal economy, now a tourist hub with little affordable housing for the workers that sustain its economy. Here, community solar offers possibilities to both sustain the people living there and conserve the landscape that draws tourists. And 3) Blackfeet Community Solar Energy Project (Blackfeet Reservation): This project entails a solar farm as well as jobs and job training for the solar industry and related fields for Native youth. It aims to address the longstanding structural neglect of Native tribes by rebuilding community and ecological relations. This site brings in considerations of energy sovereignty, economic development of the tribe, and restoring tribal ecological relations. Together, the three project sites provide an opportunity to investigate both the convergences and divergences of community solar projects in Montana and their particular geographical and historical settings.

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Geography Graduate Students Receive National Science Foundation Award Offers for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:34:43 +0000

Geography Graduate Students Receive National Science Foundation Award Offers for the 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship Program Gabriela Rocha Sales Mon, 04/13/2026 - 09:34

Congratulations to our first year graduate students; Danielle Losos (MA), Emily Nagamoto (MA), and Lauren Palermo (MA, BA alumna, 2023) for receiving award offers from the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) in 2026!

The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and strength of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. Since 1952, the program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including STEM education. NSF GRFP was established to recruit and support individuals who demonstrate the potential to make significant contributions in STEM, including STEM education. NSF encourages applications from the full spectrum of talent that the U.S. has to offer.

Congratulations to our first year graduate students; Danielle Losos, Emily Nagamoto, and Lauren Palermo for receiving award offers from the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) in 2026!

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Waleed Abdalati: CIRES Director Shares Impact NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Grant Funding Pause

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 15:27:32 +0000

Waleed Abdalati: CIRES Director Shares Impact NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Grant Funding Pause Gabriela Rocha Sales Mon, 04/13/2026 - 09:27

Article copied for archival purposes.

Trump administration holds up NOAA grant funding

by Rachel Frazin - 04/13/26 6:00 AM ET

The Trump administration is holding up some National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant funding.

Earlier this month, the University of Colorado released a statement saying that a federal pause on grant funding has put scientists who collect data about the atmosphere “at risk for elimination.”

It specifically pointed to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), saying it “has not released these funds.”

Waleed Abdalati, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences (CIRES), told The Hill that about 30 days before the institute was slated to run out of funds to pay the scientists in question, “we were informed that NOAA has put a pause on all grant actions.”

“We are all told to assume no funding is moving through the grants management division until a spend plan has been approved,” he said.

NOAA spokesperson Kim Doster referred budget-related questions to OMB. Rachel Cauley, an OMB spokesperson, did not respond to questions from The Hill.

Nature reported in February that other agencies that award research grants, including the National Institutes of Health, were also experiencing delays in getting their grant funding approved.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, which funds NOAA, said that holding up the money violates the law.

“On a bipartisan basis, we rejected Trump’s attempt last year to slash NOAA’s budget — making clear that the Administration must continue programs to predict and track extreme weather, support the fishing industry, boost the resilience of our coastal communities, and more,” Van Hollen said in a statement to The Hill.

“But Russ Vought is ignoring these directives from Congress by preventing the obligation of funds, a clear violation of the law. It’s time for Vought to follow the law and release the funds as Congress intended for the public services that NOAA provides, which are vital to our economy,” he added.

A spokesperson for Van Hollen’s office said it’s their understanding that OMB is holding up money laid out for NOAA operations, research, and facilities, which prevents the agency from issuing new awards and funding opportunities across nearly all of its programs and only allowing it to plan for 15 days at a time.

In the case of CIRES, the funding holdup could mean the lab isn’t able to pay scientists working at the Global Monitoring Lab.

“We’ve had to notify our people that … should funds not become available by May 15, they will be on furlough,” Abdalati said.

CIRES has had to give furlough notifications to 42 of its employees at the lab, while some other people were reassigned to other work. The lab also has federal employees whose pay is not directly affected by the grant funding issue.

CIRES studies Earth system science, including weather and climate, changes at Earth’s poles, atmospheric chemistry and water resources. The Global Monitoring Lab studies greenhouse gases, ozone recovery and more.

Abdalati said that if the funds don’t come through, in the short term, “we lose observations and data that … help us understand the condition of our atmosphere, the content and makeup of our atmosphere, how much carbon dioxide is in it, how much is the ozone hole recovering, what other constituents are in the atmosphere.”

“In the longer term, it’s the loss of capability, the ability to make these observations, because, like many things, it’s much easier to break than it is to reconstitute,” he said, noting that some work is already stopping.

He added that this impacts research into topics ranging from pollution to global warming to ozone recovery. He also said that the information is important for understanding seasonal weather variability, which has implications for crops and cattle ranching — as well as the variability over years and decades.

A congressional joint explanatory statement accompanying the spending package passed earlier this year directs NOAA to spend about $104 million on climate laboratories and cooperative institutes, as well as $94 million on weather laboratories and cooperative institutes through its Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

NOAA, the climate research that it funds, and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research have been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs. A document that leaked last year showed the Trump administration eyeing eliminating the office and cutting 74 percent of its funding.

For fiscal 2026, the Trump administration proposed zeroing out NOAA’s climate research. The latest proposal released by the White House last week includes a $1.6 billion cut to NOAA’s operations, research and grants.

Andrew Rosenberg, former deputy director of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, described the grant delays as abnormal.

“It’s atypical. OMB normally wouldn’t hold up money like this,” said Rosenberg, who is retired and now co-edits the newsletter SciLight on Substack.

He said he believes it is part of a larger effort by the administration to hamper climate and other science.

“NOAA is mostly a science agency, and there’s a real anti-science bent to all of this,” Rosenberg said. “They’re using the budget as a weapon to fundamentally change what people have access to and the work that the government does.”

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