Wildfires are reversing America's progress on ozone pollution

Phys · 🇺🇸 public United States · Jun 05, 2026 · 838 words · By Weizhi Deng; Jun Wang; Meng Zhou

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What to know about Wildfires are reversing America's progress on ozone pollution

Researchers analyzed surface ozone levels in the U.S. from 2003 to 2024, finding that increasing wildfire activity has reversed a long-term trend of declining ozone pollution. The study suggests that wildfire emissions are now contributing to higher ozone levels and associated premature deaths, particularly after 2015.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 11

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center67%

Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Wildfires are reversing America's progress on ozone pollution Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Lead Editor For decades, the United States made steady progress in reducing surface ozone pollution, the main ingredient in smog.

Why it matters

But that progress—made as vehicles, industries, and power sources became cleaner—is increasingly being overshadowed by a different and growing source of ozone pollution: wildfires.

Common ground

Our team of atmospheric and wildfire scientists analyzed wildfires' contribution to surface ozone levels from 2003 to 2024 across the United States.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Wildfires are reversing America's progress on ozone pollution?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The U.S. made steady progress in reducing surface ozone pollution from 2003 to 2015?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-wildfires-reversing-america-ozone-pollution.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6

verified Verified By Reference 1

verified Verified 1

info Single Source 1

schedule Pending 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified

Claim 1: “The U.S. made steady progress in reducing surface ozone pollution from 2003 to 2015.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of Wikipedia entries for Microsoft Surface products and general information about the US, which are completely irrelevant to surface ozone pollution. No relevant evidence was provided to confirm or deny the claim.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel have been at war with Iran and its regional allies. Hostilities broke out after US–Israeli airstrikes killed several Iranian officials, including S…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and a federal c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States Army (U.S. Army) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is designated as the army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As a part of the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “In much of the Midwest, ozone reached unhealthy levels for more than a week [during the 2023 Canadian wildfires].”

CORROBORATED

The claim is supported by a cross-reference and multiple web search results confirming that the 2023 Canadian wildfires caused unhealthy ozone levels in the Midwest for extended periods.

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 29, 2026 ... Air quality worsens as Canadian wildfire smoke returns to Upper Midwest Unhealthy air has settled over Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North ...
https://www.facebook.com/MeteorologistRossEllet/posts/large-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 5, 2026 ... The researchers report that air quality due to ozone pollutants worsened from 2015 to 2024 across much of the Midwest and large swaths of the ...
https://now.uiowa.edu/news/2026/06/wildfires-have-worsened-o…

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web search NEUTRAL — Nov 26, 2024 ... This analysis reports extreme surface ozone enhancements across the Upper Midwest during the early summer of 2023, caused by frequent smoke ...
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/202…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 3: “the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has over 1,000 stations that measure ozone around the country.”

VERIFIED

A web search result explicitly quotes a researcher stating that the EPA operates more than 1,000 monitoring stations for surface ozone pollution.

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web search NEUTRAL — Modification to Monitoring Seasons for Ozone, Technical Support Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, March 1990. The guidance document states that ``the potential for ozone exceedan…
https://archive.epa.gov/ttn/ozone/web/html/fr970416.html

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web search NEUTRAL — The US-EPA currently operates 23 PAMS sites in metropolitan areas (US-EPA, 1994,1997, 2014; Demerjian, 2000).The United States and Canada have established criteria for evaluating stations for monitori…
https://www.redalyc.org/journal/565/56546701006/

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web search NEUTRAL — The EPA operates more than 1,000 monitoring stations for surface ozone pollution, Deng said, but they don’t cover everywhere and are concentrated in urban areas.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/university-iowa-…

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Claim 4: “Los Angeles made ozone visible to the nation in the 1940s and 1950s, as thick, eye-stinging smog often blanketed the city.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm that Los Angeles experienced thick, eye-stinging smog in the 1940s and 1950s, making ozone visible to the nation.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Los_Angeles

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Los Angeles (LA or L.A.) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3.87 million residents …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Dodgers

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “After the passage of the Clean Air Act and its amendments in the 1970s, the U.S. made steady progress in cleaning up surface ozone.”

CORROBORATED

The claim is supported by a cross-reference (The Conversation), web search results, and Wikipedia's general description of the Clean Air Act's purpose to reduce air pollution.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is on…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An unfunded mandate is a statute or regulation that requires any entity to perform certain actions, with no money provided for fulfilling the requirements. This can be imposed on state or local govern…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfunded_mandate

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Innovation and Safety is a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_Environme…

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “the number of ozone-related premature deaths due to wildfires has been increasing by about 300 deaths per year since [2015].”

CORROBORATED

The claim is corroborated by a cross-reference (The Conversation) and multiple independent web search results stating that ozone-related premature deaths due to wildfires have increased by about 300 deaths per year since 2015.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The year 300 (CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1053 Ab urb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 300 is a 2006 epic historical fantasy action film directed by Zack Snyder, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kurt Johnstad and Michael B. Gordon. It is based on the 1998 Dark Horse Comics limited serie…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_(film)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The GWM Tank 300 or Tank 300 (Chinese: 坦克300; pinyin: Tǎnkè 300; lit. 'Tank 300') is a mid-size SUV with a neo-retro body produced by Great Wall Motor (GWM) since 2020. It was originally sold under th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GWM_Tank_300

+ 4 more evidence sources

info

Claim 7: “That year [2023], an additional 43 million Americans lived in areas with ozone exceeding healthy standards compared to previous years because of increased wildfire emissions.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim is only found in the cross-reference (The Conversation). No other independent web search or Wikipedia results corroborate the specific figure of 43 million Americans.

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cross reference SUPPORTS — That year [2023], an additional 43 million Americans lived in areas with ozone exceeding healthy standards compared to previous years because of increased wildfire emissions
https://theconversation.com/wildfires-are-reversing-americas…

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Claim 8: “the gases in wildfire smoke have reversed the national ozone trend, forcing a shift from declining ozone levels prior to 2015 to increasing ozone levels after 2015.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results from June 2026 explicitly state that gases in wildfire smoke reversed the national ozone trend, shifting from declining levels prior to 2015 to increasing levels after 2015.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2015 Oregon wildfires were an ongoing series of wildfires affecting parts of the U.S. state of Oregon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Oregon_wildfires

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of notable wildfires.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wildfires

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A wildfire, forest fire, brushfire or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Some natural forest ecosystems depend on wildfire. Modern forest management…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 9: “surface ozone levels that had been falling by about 0.65 parts per billion per year from 2003 to 2015 have since increased by about 0.13 parts per billion per year.”

CORROBORATED

The specific figures (0.65 ppb decrease 2003-2015 and 0.13 ppb increase after 2015) are corroborated by a cross-reference and multiple independent web search reports.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... In 2015, they found, the surface ozone trend flipped from a yearly decrease of 0.65 parts per billion to an increase of 0.13 ppb. If not for ...
https://www.courthousenews.com/wildfires-drive-ozone-deaths-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 14, 2026 ... ... surface ozone reversed around 2015 as North America began to ... 2003–2015 have since increased by about 0.13 parts per billion per year.
https://japantoday.com/category/features/environment/wildfir…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 20, 2026 ... ... 0.65 parts per billion (ppb) per year (2003–2015) to +0.13 ppb per year (2015–2024). The reversal was primarily driven by increasing ...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/406034456_Fires_rev…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 10: “In January 2025, destructive fires burned more than 16,000 homes and businesses in and around Los Angeles”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 11: “Canada experienced its most devastating wildfire seasons on record in 2023 and 2025.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute the claim regarding the 2023 and 2025 wildfire seasons in Canada.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.