What Wildfire Smoke Reveals About How We Respond to Climate Risk

The wisest societal response to this would, of course, be to set out a policy framework to address both the root causes and the symptoms of the problem. Education about the risks and preventive measures like masking would help, too. 

Nonetheless, at the end of the day, the economy absorbs these costs. At the local level, however, that may not be possible much longer as fires occur more frequently. While a fire generally cannot occur in the same place year after year, the smoke will often hit the same places over and over again. A company with operations concentrated in affected geographies faces real operational risk. And that says nothing of the very real human health consequences for affected individuals. 

From an economic perspective, it’s worth noting that adaptation has a cost, too. If I had cancelled to avoid smoke exposure, I could have missed out on an important story idea, or I could have soured the other meeting participants, leading them to avoid working with me in the future.