High heat, heavy smog, a deadly combo

Air pollution study in US News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report via Health Day featured research by Mostafijur Rahman and Erika Garcia of the Keck School of Medicine that revealed the combination of extreme heat and air pollution exponentially increases the risk of dying.

“We are experiencing more and more frequent wildfires, which cause pollution, and wildfires happen during the hotter days. So, there will be more of these occurrences in the future,” said lead researcher Md Mostafijur Rahman, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine.

Although extreme heat and air pollution each increase the risk of dying, the combination increases the risk exponentially, he noted.

Read full story at U.S. News & World Report