‘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”.

Continue reading...

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

Read original article →

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

People in the US: how have you coped during this summer of record heat?

Climate ‘feedback loops’ could worsen global warming by 30%, study finds

‘Totally reliant on Mother Nature’: UK drought raises water security fears