Air quality planning in California’s changing climate

Bedsworth, Louise

doi:10.1007/s10584-011-0244-0

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…24 The San Joaquin Valley air basin, one of the most populous in the state, is projected to experience large population growth and has a high probability of exceeding air quality standards for ground-level ozone. 27 Projected increases in emissions of air pollutants coupled with population projections for this air basin under both B1 and A2 climate scenarios for late-century suggest that an additional 1.5−5.5 million people may be impacted by degraded air quality (Figure 3). This potential presents a significant challenge for climate change adaptation.…”

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projected Effects of Climate and Development on California Wildfire Emissions through 2100

Hurteau¹,

Westerling²,

Wiedinmyer³

et al. 2014

Environ. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Changing climatic conditions are influencing large wildfire frequency, a globally widespread disturbance that affects both human and natural systems. Understanding how climate change, population growth, and development patterns will affect the area burned by and emissions from wildfires and how populations will in turn be exposed to emissions is critical for climate change adaptation and mitigation planning. We quantified the effects of a range of population growth and development patterns in California on emission projections from large wildfires under six future climate scenarios. Here we show that end-of-century wildfire emissions are projected to increase by 19−101% (median increase 56%) above the baseline period (1961−1990) in California for a medium-high temperature scenario, with the largest emissions increases concentrated in northern California. In contrast to other measures of wildfire impacts previously studied (e.g., structural loss), projected population growth and development patterns are unlikely to substantially influence the amount of projected statewide wildfire emissions. However, increases in wildfire emissions due to climate change may have detrimental impacts on air quality and, combined with a growing population, may result in increased population exposure to unhealthy air pollutants. ■ INTRODUCTIONFire is a disturbance that affects many terrestrial ecosystems around the globe. Through emissions from biomass combustion and alteration of land surface properties, fire results in feedbacks that influence the climate system. 1,2 Additionally, climatic changes in the form of increasing temperature and altered precipitation regimes affect fire frequency. 3,4 In some regions, climate feedbacks to fire frequency and extent have the potential to substantially reduce the fire rotation (i.e, time required to burn an area equal to the area of interest), resulting in novel vegetation assemblages. 5 Humans have been deliberately using fire to alter natural systems for millennia. 1 More recently, human actions related to ignition and suppression have been exerting bottom-up controls on fire by altering the amount of biomass available to fuel fire. Top-down climatic controls also have the potential to alter size, severity, and frequency of fire and can function independently of or interact with bottom-up controls. 6,7 In the presence of these climatic and anthropogenic controls, annual global fire emissions were estimated to range from 1.5−2.8 Pg C year −1 from 1997 to 2009,8 equivalent to approximately 17− 32% of 2008 global emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production [U.S. Department of Energy, http://cdiac. ornl.gov/trends/emis/glo.html]. The relative contribution of both anthropogenic and climatic controls on fire activity has varied with time, and future projections suggest that the primary driver of global fire activity will shift from human activities to temperature during the 21st century.9 At regional scales, increases in the size and frequency of large fires have been ...

show abstract

Section: ■ Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Projected Effects of Climate and Development on California Wildfire Emissions through 2100

Hurteau¹,

Westerling²,

Wiedinmyer³

et al. 2014

Environ. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Extended fire seasons will affect both scenery and air quality, with detrimental effects to human health. Analyses of the effects of climate change on air pollution in general have shown that climate change will increase the severity and duration of air pollution episodes (Bedsworth 2011). Climate change may affect distribution patterns and mixtures of air pollutants through altered wind patterns and amount and intensity of precipitation.…”

Section: Effects Of Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Northern Rocky Mountains [Part 2]

Halofsky¹,

Peterson²,

Dante-Wood³

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Northern Rockies Adaptation Partnership (NRAP) identified climate change issues relevant to resource management in the Northern Rockies (USA) region, and developed solutions intended to minimize negative effects of climate change and facilitate transition of diverse ecosystems to a warmer climate. The NRAP region covers 183 million acres, spanning northern Idaho, Montana, northwestern Wyoming, North Dakota, and northern South Dakota, and includes 15 national forests and 3 national parks across the U.S. Forest Service Northern Region and adjacent Greater Yellowstone Area. U.S. Forest Service scientists, resource managers, and stakeholders worked together over 2 years to conduct a state-of-science climate change vulnerability assessment and develop adaptation options for national forests and national parks in the Northern Rockies region. The vulnerability assessment emphasized key resource areas-water, fisheries, wildlife, forest and rangeland vegetation and disturbance, recreation, cultural heritage, and ecosystem services-regarded as the most important for local ecosystems and communities. Resource managers used the assessment to develop a detailed list of ways to address climate change vulnerabilities through management actions. The large number of adaptation strategies and tactics, many of which are a component of current management practice, provide a pathway for slowing the rate of deleterious change in resource conditions.

show abstract

“…The disastrous wildfire season exposed more than half of California's population to the highest number of severe air pollution days in the state's recorded history (Safford et al., 2022 ). The California Fourth Climate Assessment report projects that the state's wildfire burn area may increase 77% by the end of the century (Bedsworth et al., 2018 ). The likelihood of numerous climate‐related hazardous events, such as extreme heat, occurring simultaneously has increased in the state (Rosenthal et al., 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air Quality Monitoring and the Safety of Farmworkers in Wildfire Mandatory Evacuation Zones

Chunga Pizarro,

Buchholz,

Hornbrook

et al. 2024

GeoHealth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The increasing frequency and severity of wildfires due to climate change pose health risks to migrant farm workers laboring in wildfire‐prone regions. This study focuses on Sonoma County, California, investigating the effectiveness of air monitoring and safety protections for farmworkers. The analysis employs AirNow and PurpleAir PM2.5 data acquired during the 2020 wildfire season, comparing spatial variability in air pollution. Results show significant differences between the single Sonoma County AirNow station data and the PurpleAir data in the regions directly impacted by wildfire smoke. Three distinct wildfire pollution episodes with elevated PM2.5 levels are identified to examine the regional variations. This study also examines the system used to exempt farmworkers from wildfire mandatory evacuation orders, finding incomplete information, ad hoc decision‐making, and scant enforcement. In response, we make policy recommendations that include stricter requirements for employers, real‐time air quality monitoring, post‐exposure health screenings, and hazard pay. Our findings underscore the need for significant consideration of localized air quality readings and the importance of equitable disaster policies for protecting the health of farmworkers (particularly those who are undocumented migrants) in the face of escalating wildfire risks.

show abstract

Air quality planning in California’s changing climate

Cited by 13 publications

References 38 publications

Projected Effects of Climate and Development on California Wildfire Emissions through 2100

Projected Effects of Climate and Development on California Wildfire Emissions through 2100

Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Northern Rocky Mountains [Part 2]

Air Quality Monitoring and the Safety of Farmworkers in Wildfire Mandatory Evacuation Zones

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About