Wildfire Smoke: Is this Becoming a Serious Health Hazard for Some States?

An analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council found that nearly 50 times more square miles held high density smoke lasting nearly 12 days that were not burned by fire, according to USA Today. As two years ago, more than 200 million Americans lived in countries that were hit by wildfire smoke, these findings suggest a greater concern for the environmental issue.

"It affects a much wider area of the United States than people realize," said author Kim Knowlton, an NRDC senior scientist and Columbia University health professor, according to USA Today.

Knowlton notes that smoke that contains fine-particle air pollution can cause a number of diseases ranging from asthma attacks to pneumonia, both which may contain particularly serious health issues for younger people and the elderly. Wildfire smoke can also cause an increased risk for chronic heart problems and lung disease.

Texas was hit hardest in 2011, with more than 25 million people home to the area when medium to high-density smoke lingered for at least a week.

Yet some states were relatively unscathed by the environmental issue.

Illinois was among the few recorded with no wildfires within its borders and ranked second, with nearly 12 million affected residents of the area.

In 2011, more than 8 million acres burned nationwide. It was the fourth highest since 1985.

"Communities need safeguards against this peril, and our country needs standards to curb the unlimited carbon pollution from power plants that's driving climate change," said Kim Knowlton, a senior scientist in NRDC's Health and Environment Program and analysis director according to Nature World News.

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