How Smoke from the 2018 California Wildfires Affected Health

Extreme weather events, like wildfires, are getting more severe and common due to climate change, leading to worse health outcomes. But these effects can differ based on location, time, and who's affected. To tackle this, researchers used a two-part method called generalized synthetic control. They studied the 2018 California wildfires, one of the worst seasons on record. The goal? To see how the smoke affected respiratory and heart health. They compared health outcomes in counties where fires happened from November 8 to December 5 with counties not affected. Random-effects meta-regression was used to see how socioeconomic factors influenced health impacts.

Results showed more respiratory hospital visits in affected counties, notably in Fresno, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. However, no changes were seen in heart-related hospital visits. Social and economic factors didn't seem to change how wildfire smoke affected lung health. This new method can help us understand how different climate disasters impact health in various places at different times. The researchers shared their R code so others can repeat or build upon their work.

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