Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41387690›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Emissions from burned structures in wildfires as significant yet unaccounted sources of US air pollution.

Wenfu Tang, Christine Wiedinmyer, Louisa K Emmons, Amara L Holder, Johannes H Uhl, Lise Ann St Denis, Maxwell Cook, Ronnie Abolafia-Rosenzweig, Cenlin He, Kelley C Barsanti and 5 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Prescribed fire is unlikely to reduce net PMProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Wenfu TangAtmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory, National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA. wenfut@ucar.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0107-4496
Christine WiedinmyerCooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9738-6592
Louisa K EmmonsAtmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory, National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2325-6212
Amara L HolderCenter for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6443-5298
Johannes H UhlInstitute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
Lise Ann St DenisCooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Earth Lab, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7010-9632
Maxwell CookDepartment of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
Ronnie Abolafia-RosenzweigResearch Applications Laboratory, NSF NCAR, Boulder, CO, USA.
Cenlin HeResearch Applications Laboratory, NSF NCAR, Boulder, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7367-2815
Kelley C BarsantiAtmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory, National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA.
Stefan LeykInstitute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9180-4853
John T AbatzoglouManagement of Complex Systems Department, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7599-9750
Jennifer K BalchCooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3983-7970
Helen WordenAtmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory, National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5949-9307
Pieternel F LeveltAtmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling Laboratory, National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO, USA.

Funding

University of Colorado Population CenterP2CHD066613 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · PI JANE A MENKEN · 2015 to 2026
$3.7M
NICHD NIH HHS P2C HD066613United States Department of Commerce | NOAA | Climate Program Office (NOAA Climate Program Office) NA22OAR4310204
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Structure fires in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) are becoming more frequent and destructive, yet their emissions of air pollutants remain poorly quantified and are not included in national inventories. Here we present a conterminous-scale inventory of WUI-related structure fire emissions in the United States from 2000 to 2020. A small number of highly destructive events dominate structure fire emissions-the 20 most destructive fires account for 68% of total carbon monoxide emissions. Structure fire emissions are more spatially concentrated than vegetation fire emissions, and in several states emissions of specific hazardous air pollutants such as hydrochloric acid exceed those from all anthropogenic sources combined. We show that structure burning in wildfires is strongly influenced by fire-conducive weather, and destructive structure fires are more likely to occur in forested and urbanized landscapes. These results reveal structure fires as a major source of toxic air pollution, with important implications for air quality, public health, and fire management.

Identifiers

PMID41387690
PMCPMC12749874

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.