Perceptions of wildland fire smoke : literature review and synthesis
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Date
2021
Authors
Ellison, Autumn
Huber-Stearns, Heidi
Frederick, Stacey Sargent
Coughlan, Michael R.
McCaffrey, Sarah
Olsen, Christine S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon
Abstract
Smoke from wildland fire presents a serious
and growing concern. Mirroring global
trends in recent decades, many areas of the
US are experiencing increasing wildfire size, severity,
and frequency. The health hazard of smoke
from wildland fire has been well-documented and can be orders of magnitude
higher than the hazard presented by actual flames. As
the size and severity of wildfires have increased,
smoke has at times affected cities hundreds of
miles from the source. Amid increasing smoke exposure from wildfires,
calls for fuels reduction treatments have also increased.
However, treatments such as prescribed
fire and natural ignitions that are managed for resource
benefits also produce smoke and elicit similar
health concerns as wildfire smoke. These treatments can reduce overall
smoke exposure by decreasing the risk of more
severe, hard to control wildfires in the long-term, but their
implementation often depends on public support,
as well as public tolerance for the smoke they produce.
With exposure to wildland fire smoke projected
to further increase there is a
clear need for efforts to better mitigate or adapt to
smoke impacts in high-risk areas. Such efforts rely
on an understanding of how people perceive, plan
for, and respond to smoke. This synthesis compiles
published scholarly literature on how individuals
perceive wildland fire smoke to offer an overview
of current knowledge on wildland fire smoke perceptions.
It is intended to serve as a documentation
of the scope, parameters, and gaps of research
to date in this field.
Description
28 pages