Is another smoky summer inevitable?

On this episode of SoundQs, we try to figure out whether smokey summers are the new normal and what wildfire smoke this year might bring

The future is probably going to be smokier—that’s the long term trend. But, as far as this summer, a lot of factors have to line up.

In fact, we don’t really know yet. Fire is really complex, nuanced and variable. We get into some of that complexity and find out what can we do to reduce the risk of wildfire smoke.

If you want to monitor the air quality and smoke forecast, check out these resources:

• The Washington Smoke Blog
• Air quality monitoring and smoke forecasting tools from the U.S. Forest Service’s AirFire research team at the Pacific Wildland Fire Science Laboratory in Seattle
• Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s air quality map

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button above or on your favorite podcast app. SoundQs is a weekly podcast where our KUOW reporters tackle questions submitted by our listeners.

Have a question about the Seattle region for us to answer? Drop it here: