Having trouble breathing? See how climate change is impacting our air quality.

• Climate change leads to more frequent and longer wildfires, significantly impacting air quality.
• Fine particles in wildfire smoke can penetrate deep into the lungs, potentially causing respiratory and cardiovascular problems.
• Experts recommend monitoring air quality forecasts and taking precautions on bad air quality days, especially for sensitive groups.

Symptoms of climate change, such as extreme weather events and wildfires, can significantly impact air quality, potentially leading to increased pollutants and allergens, posing health risks.

“There’s a lot we know and I’m sure there’s a lot we don’t know, because it’s getting worse every year,” said Katherine Pruitt, senior director of nationwide clean air policy for the American Lung Association. “The ozone air pollution, which is a caustic gas that when you breathe it in, causes something similar to a sunburn in your lungs. It makes them inflamed and affects your respiratory health and your overall health.”

Climate change impacts on air quality

• Climate change has already led to more frequent wildfires and a longer wildfire season.
• Wildfire smoke pollutes the air, impairing visibility. 
• Wildfire smoke can spread hundreds of miles downwind to other regions.
• Exposure to wildfire smoke can worsen respiratory illnesses, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and bronchitis. 
• Wildfire smoke exposures have also been linked to premature births
• Climate change can also affect indoor air quality. Increases in outside air pollutants, such as ozone and particulate matter, could lead to higher indoor exposures.
• Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Climate change

“Ozone air pollution is a product of pollutants coming out of smokestacks, tail pipes and other industries,” said Pruitt. “If it’s hot and sunny, those pollutants react in the atmosphere to create air pollution. That’s one of the things we’re seeing in the state of the air report. Our air quality has been getting better for decades because of the things we’ve been able to do through the Clean Air Act. For instance stricter rules about cars, smoke stacks and power plants.

“Those improvements caused our air quality to improve around the country. About 10 years ago you started to see levels of air pollution get worse again. That’s because of the changes associated with climate change.”

Air quality

“Air quality is the presence or absence of contaminants in the atmosphere, in our breathing zone,” said Pruitt. “Some of them are more natural in origin. But, most of what we think of as air pollution contaminants are produced by human activities. Which can include ozone, air pollution, particle pollution, carbon monoxide. It depends on whether you’re talking indoors or outdoors. But there’s a lot of them.”

More: When is a good time to replace trees and shrubs lost in Hurricane Helene?

Particle Pollution

“Particle pollution is not one particular thing,” said Pruitt. “It’s defined by its size. So it might be a metal, gas, or an acid. So things that are emitted from tail pipes, smoke stacks. Sometimes, sources in our homes like tobacco smoke or wildfire smoke produce tiny particles that can travel through the air and are easily inhaled.”

Air Quality Index is a rating system that shows the severity of pollution in the air on a scale of 0 to 500, according to experts with the American Lung Association. An air quality index value under 50 is considered good air quality, meaning that it is safe for everyone to spend time outdoors without posing a risk to their health.

Dr. Kathleen May, division chief of allergy immunology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, said, “Our patients and our community have been impacted by wildfires. Which impacts people with asthma and respiratory disease as well as the general community.”

May added, “There have been a lot of recent wildfires in South Carolina and near the CSRA. For those people who are downstream of that smoke, there can be significant health impacts. One of the things that’s very important to realize is that you can be 10 to 100 miles away, more and still be impacted by it.”

May said the biggest factor in wildfires is something called PM 2.5.

“The EPA monitors air quality, and one of the things they monitor is particulate matter,” May said. “And 2.5 is actually a measure of size. It  means 2.5 microns. And just to give you a sense of the size, a human hair is about 50 microns. So it’s about 20 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.”

Pruitt said larger particles like road dust can be coughed out. 

“Our airways have ways of protecting themselves,” she said. “And those large particles we can sneeze out of our system before they do any harm. But we can inhale fine particles into the deepest parts of our lungs. Those particles can lodge in our lung tissue and sometimes they can circulate throughout our body.”

Pruitt said there are six important pollutants.

“Ambient air pollutants that are sort of widespread,” said Pruitt. “It includes particle pollution, ozone. Those are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has determined what a safe level of those pollutants is. They’re responsible for making sure that we have a nationwide network of air quality monitors.”

Pruitt recommends that everyone keep an eye on the air quality forecasts in their area as well as a few tips on bad air quality days:

• Gardening in the morning before the air gets bad. 
• If you’re a runner avoid exercising vigorously on a bad air day. 
• On bad air quality days avoid running along roadways.
• If you must go outdoors, consider wearing a N95 mask.

“The most important thing is to know if it’s going to be a good air day or bad,” said Pruitt. “Then you can make decisions about what you need to do to protect yourself and your family. If you’re in a high risk group that’s young children, elderly, people with lung disease or heart disease or pregnant people you’re more likely to be affected at lower levels of air pollution. So you need to take extra steps. That could mean staying indoors if it’s a really bad day. Especially if there’s wildfire smoke in the area.”

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with several funders and Journalism Funding Partners.

Erica Van Buren is the climate change reporter for The Augusta Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on X: @EricaVanBuren32.