Bendix Quoted in Associated Press Article on Deaths From Wildfire Smoke

May 13, 2025

The Associated Press

Jacob Bendix

Geography & the Environment Department

Center for Environmental Policy and Administration

Climate Change

Longevity

United States

Wildfires

The Associated Press

Jacob Bendix

A new study published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment finds that wildfires worsened by climate change caused around 15,000 deaths and $160 billion in economic losses in the U.S. from 2006 to 2020 due to smoke exposure. Annual deaths ranged from 130 to 5,100, with the highest impacts in states like Oregon and California.

Jacob Bendix, professor emeritus of geography and environment, says he is “dismayed” by the findings but not surprised.

“These numbers are really significant. I think there’s a tendency for people outside of the areas actually burning to see increasing fires as a distant inconvenience…This study drives home how far-reaching the impacts are,” says Bendix, who was not involved in the study.

Read more in the Associated Press article, “Smoke from climate-fueled wildfires contributed to thousands of US deaths over 15 years, study says.”