BYDANIEL DE VISÉ- 06/01/23 10:53 AM ET

SHARETWEET

Wildfires threaten to undo decades of progress in fighting air pollution

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Climate change threatens to reverse decades of progress in cleaning America’s air, especially in the West.

Unhealthy air alerts triggered by particles of pollution are rising in dozens of cities and counties, chiefly in Western states, the American Lung Association reports. The main reason is rampant wildfires, fed by global warming, causing an annual cycle of smoky devastation.

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Eight of the 10 cities with the most days ofhigh particle pollution, including soot from fires, sit in California, the lung-disease nonprofit found in its 2023 State of the Air report. Another isFairbanks, Alaska, a city without enough cars or people to generate much air pollution on its own.

Smoke from wildfires is befouling the air in remote cities that have never known L.A.-style…