A study in Science Advances estimates that chronic exposure to fine particles from wildfire smoke contributed to roughly 24,100 deaths per year in the continental U.S. between 2006 and 2020, with especially strong links to neurological, respiratory, and cardiovascular disease.

The findings underscore that wildfire smoke is a growing public health threat, driven by more frequent fires, forest mismanagement, and development in fire-prone areas. Researchers warn that because wildfire pollution is treated as a “natural” event and largely unregulated, its real human toll is often invisible but very real.