University Stony Brook UniversityA new study projects that smoke exposure from wildfires in the coming decades toward 2050 could result in tens of thousands of excess deaths in the United States. Deaths from wildfire smoke result from inhaling a complex mix of chemicals. Within wildfire smoke pollution, researchers often focus on fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, which penetrates the lungs and enters the bloodstream. Third, they project that future smoke PM2.5 could result in more than 71,000 excess deaths per year by 2050 under a high warming scenario—a 73% increase relative to the 2011-2020 averages from current wildfire smoke. “There’s a broad understanding that wildfire activity and wildfire smoke exposure are changing quickly.