Warming climate making fine particulate matter from wildfires more deadly and expensive

Oregon State University

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Plumes of smoke are seen from miles away as a rangeland wildfire burns outside of the small town of Antelope in Wasco County, Oregon. Photo by Emily Jane Davis, Oregon State University.

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Credit: Plumes of smoke are seen from miles away as a rangeland wildfire burns outside of the small town of Antelope in Wasco County, Oregon. Photo by Emily Jane Davis, Oregon State University.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Scientists say human-caused climate change led to 15,000 additional deaths from wildfire air pollution in the continental United States during the 15-year period ending in 2020.

About 35% of the additional deaths attributed to climate change occurred in 2020, the year of the historic Labor Day fires in the Pacific Northwest as well as major blazes in California, Colorado and Arizona.

The study, led by an Oregon State University researcher and published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, is the first to quantify how many people are dying because a warming climate is causing fires to send increasing amounts of fine particulate matter into the air, especially in the West.

The scientists estimate that during the study period a total of 164,000 deaths resulted from wildfire PM2.5, particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller that can be inhaled deeply into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream. They determined that 15,000 of those deaths were attributable to climate change – meaning that absent climate change, the total would have been 149,000.

The average annual death rate from wildfire PM2.5 during the study period was 5.14 per 100,000 people; by comparison, that’s roughly double the annual U.S. death rate from tropical cyclones such as hurricanes

The research also found a $160 billion economic burden associated with those 15,000 extra wildfire PM2.5 deaths. Economic burden from mortality considers factors such as productivity losses, health care costs and a concept known as value of a statistical life that assigns a monetary value to reduction in mortality risk.

The study, which looked at mortality risk on a county-by-county basis, showed the economic burden was greatest in California, Oregon and Washington.

“Without efforts to address climate change, wildfires and associated fine particulate matter will continue to increase,” said Bev Law, professor emerita in the OSU College of Forestry and the study’s leader. “Projections of climate-driven wildfire PM2.5 across the continental U.S. point to at least a 50% increase in mortality from smoke by midcentury relative to the decade ending with 2020, with resulting annual damages of $244 billion.”

Using publicly available datasets, Law and collaborators looked at how much additional area burned and how many people died from climate-change related wildfire PM2.5 during the 2006-20 study period, integrating climate projections, climate-wildfire models, wildfire smoke models, and emission and health impact modeling.

The authors note that as climate change exacerbates wildfire risk, PM2.5 emissions from fires have surged to the point that wildfires now account for almost half of all PM2.5 across the United States and have negated air quality improvements in multiple regions. They also say that absent abrupt changes in climate trajectories, land management and population trends, the impacts of climate change on human health via wildfire smoke will escalate.

“Exposure to PM2.5 is a known cause of cardiovascular disease and is linked to the onset and worsening of respiratory illness,” Law said. “Ongoing trends of increasing wildfire severity track with climate projections and underscore how climate change manifestations like earlier snowmelt, intensified heat waves and drier air have already expanded forest fire extent and accelerated daily fire growth rates.”

Researchers at the University of California, Merced, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Woodwell Climate Research Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Harvard Medical School also took part in the study.

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Journal

Communications Earth & Environment

DOI

10.1038/s43247-025-02314-0 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Anthropogenic climate change contributes to wildfire particulate matter and related mortality in the United States

Article Publication Date

7-May-2025

 

Grains of truth: New focus issue explores how pathogens and pests of cereal crops undermine global food security

American Phytopathological Society

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B, Sporulating lesion on a rice leaf. C, Sporulating lesions on a wheat leaf. D, Rice panicle neck infections block all grain filling above the infection points (red arrows). E, Wheat spike blast with individual directly infected spikelets. F, Wheat rachis infections kill all spikelets above the infection points. Removed spikelets show stem infection points (red arrows) with gray sporulation. G, Finger millet neck infection (red arrow) kills all fingers on the seed head. H, Leaf lesions on perennial ryegrass showing white lesion centers after spore release.

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Credit: B and D to H, Reproduced with permission from Valent et al. [2020]—© The American Phytopathological Society. C, courtesy J. Toledo—reproduced with permission.)

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (MPMI), the leading journal for research on plant-pathogen interactions, is pleased to announce the publication of its latest focus issue, “Fine Grain: Molecular, Cellular and Genomic Details of Cereal Crop Diseases.” This special collection of articles addresses the pressing challenges posed by fungal, bacterial, oomycete, viral, and nematode diseases that threaten global food security.

Despite rapid advancements in molecular tools and genome sequencing, cereal crop diseases continue to cause significant yield losses worldwide. Changing climate, global trade, and pathogen evolution are compounding these threats, underscoring the urgent need for innovative research. This focus issue brings together 19 original research and reviews that examine both host and pathogen biology at the molecular, cellular, and genomic levels. Topics include effector function and evolution, plant receptor mechanisms, pathogen physiology, and signal transduction pathways—offering new insights into disease resistance and management strategies.

In this focus issue, Barbara Valent, Distinguished Professor at Kansas State University, presents an insightful H. H. Flor Distinguished Review, showcasing key research from her own lab as well as contributions from others studying rice blast disease and the newly identified blast diseases affecting wheat and Lolium ryegrass, all caused by Pyricularia oryzae. Valent’s groundbreaking work on these pathosystems has significantly advanced the field, making this review an essential read for any student of plant pathology.

“This issue highlights significant breakthroughs in cereal crop disease research and identifies knowledge gaps that can inform future studies and management practices,” said Tim Friesen, Editor-in-Chief of MPMI.

Guest edited by leading experts Lida Derevnina (University of Cambridge), Ksenia Krasileva (University of California, Berkeley), Benjamin Schwessinger (Australian National University), and Richard Wilson (University of Nebraska), “Fine Grain: Molecular, Cellular and Genomic Details of Cereal Crop Diseases” reflects the collective expertise of researchers at the forefront of plant-microbe interactions. Their contributions provide a comprehensive overview of the latest developments and emerging trends in cereal crop disease research.

“The breadth of the articles featured in this issue underscores the complexity of cereal crop diseases and the multidisciplinary approaches required to tackle them,” said Tessa Burch-Smith, Associate Editor-in-Chief of MPMI. “From molecular interactions to applied solutions, these studies will be invaluable to scientists working toward sustainable disease management.”

For more information and to access the Focus Issue, visit MPMI.

About Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (MPMI)

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions publishes groundbreaking research on the molecular mechanisms governing interactions between plants and microbes. Covering a wide range of host-microbe systems, the journal serves as a critical resource for scientists studying plant pathology, microbiology, and molecular biology. MPMI is jointly published by The American Phytopathological Society and the International Society for Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions.

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Journal

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions

DOI

10.1094/MPMI-38-2 

After global catastrophe, urban and near-urban farming could be sufficient to sustain mid-size cities

Optimal post-apocalyptic crops for urban gardens and rooftops and nearby land include peas and potatoes—except in a nuclear winter

PLOS

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City-adjacent food production, including canola/rapeseed for biofuel, would provide food security in a global catastrophe.

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Credit: Werner Lojowski, Pexels, CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

A new study suggests that, in the case of global catastrophe, urban agriculture alone could sustain only about one fifth of the population of a temperate, median-sized city, but the whole city could be fed by also farming land within a short distance of the urban area. Matt Boyd of Adapt Research Ltd, New Zealand, and Nick Wilson of the University of Otago, New Zealand, present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on May 7, 2025.

Abrupt global catastrophes—such as nuclear wars, extreme pandemics, or solar storms—could severely hamper global trade. Shortages of resources like liquid fuels could disrupt food production and transport, possibly leading to famine. Prior research has suggested that this impact could be mitigated by urban agriculture, which includes such approaches as home, community, and rooftop gardens.

However, there is limited broad-scope research on this topic. To deepen understanding, Boyd and Wilson calculated estimates of the potential for urban and near-urban farming to meet the post-apocalyptic needs of Palmerston North, New Zealand, a median-sized city in a temperate climate that is fairly representative of many cities worldwide.

Using Google Earth image analysis, the researchers estimate that urban agriculture alone could only feed about one fifth of Palmerston North’s population. However, farming at least 1,140 hectares of additional near-urban land could ensure food security for the entire city. Dedicating another 110 hectares to biofuel production could also cover the city’s fuel needs for agricultural machinery.

The analysis suggests that, under a normal climate, peas are the best urban agriculture crop for maximizing protein and calories while minimizing land requirements. In scenarios of nuclear winter—global cooling caused by large-scale nuclear war—sugar beets and spinach are the frontrunners. Optimal near-urban crops are potatoes in a normal climate, and wheat and carrots in nuclear winter.

This study’s methods could be applied by other cities to assess their own food security and inform preparations to boost resilience in case of global crisis.

Lead author Dr. Matt Boyd, of Adapt Research, adds: "During a global catastrophe that disrupts trade, fuel imports could cease, severely impacting the industrial food production and transportation systems that keep our supermarket shelves filled. To survive, populations will need to dramatically localize food production in and around our cities. This research explores how we might do that.”

“Success depends on integrating food production into urban areas, protecting and making ready near-urban land, building local food processing infrastructure, ensuring seed availability and integrating food into our national security policy framework.”

 

 

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/3YOmMz1

Citation: Boyd M, Wilson N (2025) Resilience to abrupt global catastrophic risks disrupting trade: Combining urban and near-urban agriculture in a quantified case study of a globally median-sized city. PLoS ONE 20(5): e0321203. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321203

Author countries: New Zealand

Funding: The study was self-funded by the authors and no external funder had any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.

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Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0321203 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Resilience to abrupt global catastrophic risks disrupting trade: Combining urban and near-urban agriculture in a quantified case study of a globally median-sized city

Article Publication Date

7-May-2025

COI Statement

No support was received from any organization for the submitted work beyond the authors primary affiliations; the authors declare no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work; and no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. MB is the owner and sole employee of Adapt Research Ltd, this does not alter our adherence to PLOS One policies on sharing data and materials.

 

India has one of the world’s highest densities of snow leopards

Camera trapping study reveals a large snow leopard population in India’s Ladakh territory

PLOS

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Camera trapping image during the study.

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Credit: Department of Wildlife Protection, UT Ladakh, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Most of India’s snow leopard population live in a remote region in the north of the country, where they co-exist alongside rural communities, according to a study publishing May 7, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Pankaj Raina at Union Territory of Ladakh's Department of Wildlife Protection, and colleagues.

To effectively conserve wild carnivores, researchers need accurate data on their population size and distribution. However, gathering this data has proved particularly challenging for snow leopards (Panthera uncia) because of their shy nature and preference for remote, rugged terrain. Researchers assessed the population size and distribution of snow leopards across a 59,000 km2 landscape in India’s Ladakh territory, in the north of the country. First, they performed an intensive survey of the region for evidence of snow leopards, such as footprints, feces and scratch marks. They also assessed the presence of other large carnivores, such as brown bears and lynx, as well as wild herbivores and livestock. Next, they set up 956 camera traps, covering over 8,500 km2 in areas occupied by snow leopards, to allow them to generate accurate estimates of their populations across the territory. They analyzed the photos using artificial intelligence to identify individual snow leopards based on the distinctive pattern of markings on their forehead.

The researchers estimated that Ladakh is home to 477 snow leopards, representing 68% of India’s total population. The density of snow leopards varied between 1 and 3 individuals per 100 km2, and they found that Hemis National Park has the highest density of snow leopards recorded globally. They report that 61% of snow leopards in Ladakh co-exist alongside human populations. Resource-rich grasslands with a moderate climate and complex terrain tended to be home to a higher number of snow leopards, which is likely due to a greater availability of prey and less human disturbance.

The study is the most comprehensive population survey of snow leopards to date. The methodology could be used for regular monitoring of these elusive big cats across their global range. The study also generated a national photo library of snow leopards that could help conservationists to monitor poaching and trafficking of animal parts. The authors say that the wide distribution and high population density of snow leopards in Ladakh is due to a combination of factors, including abundant prey, rugged and remote landscapes, low human population density, and a culture of deep respect for wildlife among local communities.

The authors add: “The deep-rooted reverence for wildlife among Ladakh’s communities, combined with the economic benefits from snow leopard tourism and conflict management strategies, helps sustain some of the world’s highest snow leopard densities—a model that could be adapted and upscaled across the species' range.”

“To photograph snow leopards' foreheads, we had to make them pose in front of our cameras. This was done by spraying a small amount of perfume just below the cameras that were deployed near their favored scent marking rocks on the high ridge tops. The curious leopards lower their heads to smell the novel smell and we have our prized photos!”

“Fingerprinting snow leopards: A special pattern recognition software that fits a three dimensional model on the snow leopards forehead image extracts the spot patterns and stores them in a database for comparing it with other snow leopard photographs, and comes up with close matches. This reduced our work many fold and improved the accuracy of correct individual identification that is crucial for population estimation using statistical models." 

 

 

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/3S2FkHY

Citation: Raina P, Mungi NA, Kumar U, Rathi AD, Khan NH, Patel DA, et al. (2025) Comprehensive assessment of snow leopard distribution and population in the Indian Trans-Himalaya, Ladakh: Standardizing methods for evidence-based conservation. PLoS One 20(5): e0322136. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322136

Author countries: India, Denmark, U.K.

Funding: National Mission for Himalayan Studies (No. NMHS/2016-17/MG13/06) implemented by Department of Wildlife Protection, Leh, funded this study. NAM was supported by Danmarks Grundforskningsfond (DNRF173) and Villum Fonden (16549) during the writing of this study. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0322136 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Comprehensive assessment of snow leopard distribution and population in the Indian Trans-Himalaya, Ladakh: Standardizing methods for evidence-based conservation

Article Publication Date

7-May-2025

COI Statement

I have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Pankaj Raina was the Wildlife Warden of the Union Territory of Ladakh during the study period. The authors declare no additional competing interest. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS One policies on sharing data and materials.

 

Dementia rates in China are rising disproportionately

Rates of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are rising faster in China than in the rest of the world, driven in part by population growth, high blood sugar, smoking, and obesity

PLOS

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Global burden of disease map for ADD, 1990-2021. Annual change in deaths per 100,000 people for all sexes and all ages

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Credit: Liu, Geng., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

The burden of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in China is higher than in most countries and increasing at a faster rate than the global average, according to a new study published May 7, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Siyu Liu and Daoying Geng of Fudan University, China.

Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (ADD) are an increasingly serious global health issue, with rates rising worldwide. There is currently a lack of understanding of the disease burden and risk factors of ADD specifically in China, despite being one of the countries with a rapidly aging population.

In the new study, the researchers analyzed more than three decades of global health data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), a public database jointly initiated by institutions including the World Bank and the World Health Organization. They found that between 1990 and 2021, ADD cases in China tripled, while global cases doubled. Women bear a higher overall disease burden, partly due to longer lifespans, but men have slightly higher death rates from the condition. The study also projected trends for the next 15 years using statistical models, suggesting that dementia rates will continue to rise, especially in China, unless more effective interventions are put in place.

When focusing on risk factors for ADD, the study showed that high blood sugar (from conditions like diabetes) is now the leading preventable risk factor for dementia worldwide, including in China. Smoking and high body weight are also major contributors, particularly among men.

The authors conclude that the increase in ADD in China is mostly being driven by population growth and shifting age demographics, but that efforts to reduce high blood sugar and smoking – especially among older adults – could slow the increase in dementia cases.

The authors add: “ADD is one of the diseases with the heaviest global disease burden. The disease burden of ADD in China and globally has increased year by year from 1990 to 2021.”

 

 

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/3EDwBJo

Citation: Liu S, Geng D (2025) A systematic analysis for disease burden, risk factors, and trend projection of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in China and globally. PLoS ONE 20(5): e0322574. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322574

Author countries: China

Funding: The funding organization of the National Nature Science Foundation of China (82372048) is National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). The funding organization of the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (22TS1400900, 23S31904100, 22ZR1409500, 24SF1904200, 24SF1904201) is Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission. DG is the recipient of the funding awards listed above. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0322574 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

A systematic analysis for disease burden, risk factors, and trend projection of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in China and globally

Article Publication Date

7-May-2025