Climate change drives bigger wildfire seasons, threatens to wipe out progress on air pollution

Whether large or small, wildfires pose a far-reaching threat as smoke spreads through the air. That smoke is made up of tiny particle-sized pollutants. Too much of which makes the air dangerous to breathe in. Climate research has shown that more intense heat waves and longer-lasting droughts are both contributing to bigger and more intense wildfire seasons, resulting in more smoke-filled days in the western U.S. Smoke or particle pollution, as it's labeled in the air quality monitoring world, is bad enough on its own.