It’s more than just the smoke

Wildfires are growing in size and intensity with climate change. Clearly the smoke from these fires has direct health consequences; however, some recent research shows that the concern goes beyond the smoke itself.

Kelesidis and colleagues (2025) studied the impact of the 2023 Canadian wildfires on New York. They found that there were the expected particles from the smoke itself but the layer of smoke had other impacts. The average temperature dropped by three degrees. This reduced air circulation. Between the cooler temperatures and the blanket of smoke other pollutants became trapped at ground level. This, reduced the air quality even further.

In another study, Bazina and colleagues (2025) found that wildfire particulates deposited in people’s lungs. This reduced the effectiveness of immune cells in the lungs by about 20%. As a result, people would have greater susceptibility to infections. Presumably, combined with the previous article about trapping other air pollutants, this made the health repercussions even more significant. Which does show in the hospital visit data for the area.

Clearly, the costs of wildfires are far-reaching. It isn’t just about the smoke but also the impacts that smoke has on other parts of the environment. The health costs of the spoke are significant. Citing a study from Sawyer at colleagues in 2023, the Climate Institute in Canada indicates that just one week of wildfire smoke in June 2023 had an estimated cost of more than $1.2 billion in Ontario through premature deaths, increased hospital visits, and health emergencies. They also cite increased negative impacts on mental health after climate-related fires and floods.

I get that the cost of mitigation and adaptation to climate change is high, but I truly wonder if it will be as high as the price of not combatting climate change.