Wildfire smoke is eroding decades of air quality improvements, study finds

[Martin68]

2. I'm not sure I understand the concept that the wildfires are "eroding decades of air quality

improvements." Air quality improvements continue to have a beneficial effect on the air we breathe. While wildfire smoke seriously degrades air quality, it is not permanent, and lasts only as long as the fire burns. Other sources of improvement - controls on industrial emissions and vehicle emissions for example - are still in effect and will continue to have a beneficial effect on air quality. Air quality has returned to norma where we live in Virginia now the the Canadian wildfire smoke is no longer reaching us, as its will elsewhere. The progress is not "unravelling." It is a temporary decrease in air quality. Seems like a very pessimistic way to portray the effect of wildfire smoke. No doubt it has negatively impacted the health of many people, but if other emissions control had not been in effect, the cumulative effect could have been catastrophic.