‘You can taste the ash’: surviving in America’s wildfire smoke capital

high · Guardian Environment · John D Sutter with photographs by Ricardo Nagaoka · 26 Aug 2026 · 12:00 UTC · Climate Collapse · 1 min read

Summary

Documents real-world climate disaster consequences as wildfire smoke creates a public health crisis in Oregon, representing environmental collapse and its deadly human toll on vulnerable populations.

A magical corner of Oregon has the highest US rate of wildfire smoke deaths. How do residents live with the haze – and grief?
Driving into the county, you can’t miss the sign.
“IT’S THE CLIMATE”.

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wildfire smoke deaths climate crisis impact public health emergency environmental collapse community resilience

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‘You can taste the ash’: surviving in America’s wildfire smoke capital

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