A new report shows the state of Missouri is the fourth worst in the nation for the health risks posed by wildfire smoke.

According to the report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, wildfires will pose increasing health risks.

The reports lists the risk of asthma attacks, pneumonia, and more serious chronic lung diseases.

 

Wildfire smoke can pose serious health risks to people hundreds of miles away from the sources of fires,” said Kim Knowlton, a senior scientist in NRDC’s Health and Environment Program, who directed the analysis. “Wildfire smoke already clouds the skies of millions of Americans.”

The study, based on smoke data from the 2011 wildfire season, one of the worst in recent decades, found that the area affected by smoke is 50 times greater than the area burned by fire. About two-thirds of Americans—nearly 212 million people—lived in counties affected by smoke conditions in 2011. Many states had large wildfires that year, but the study found that among the top 20 most affected states, six with no major fires nonetheless had to cope with more than a week of medium- to high-density smoke conditions during the year.

The states with the greatest numbers of residents affected by wildfire smoke conditions for a week or longer in 2011 were Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Alabama, Oklahoma and Iowa.

The report found that in 2011:
* Texas ranked 1st nationally because more than 25 million people lived in areas with wildfire smoke conditions for one week or more.
* Illinois ranked 2nd with 11.9 million residents in affected areas.
* Florida ranked 3rd with 11.2 million residents in affected areas.
* Missouri ranked 4th with 5.9 million residents in affected areas.
* Georgia ranked 5th, with 5.7 million residents in affected areas.
* Louisiana ranked 6th, with 4.5 million residents in affected areas.
* Michigan ranked 7th, with 3.93 million residents in affected areas.
* Alabama ranked 8th, with 3.92 million residents in affected areas.
* Oklahoma ranked 9th, with 3.7 million residents in affected areas.
* Iowa ranked 10th, with 3 million residents in affected areas.

“Families can lessen the health risks from smoke by staying indoors or limiting outside physical activity,” Knowlton said. “You can keep smoke levels low inside the house by closing the windows and running the air conditioner on ‘recirculate.’

“We also need better monitoring and early-warning systems for growing health threats, so people will know when the air is unhealthy for vulnerable groups.