Smoke Geographies: Developing a framework for understanding smoke in the urban American West

Keywords: smoke, American West
Session Type: Virtual Lightning Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 42

Abstract

Smoke, whether it is from wildfire or industrial or agricultural sources, has a long history of shaping the geography of the cities of the American West. This paper conceptualizes a framework for understanding the geographies of smoke in the urban American West by analyzing current and historical smoke landscapes in the West. The paper begins by exploring the recent geography of wildfire smoke. During recent severe and prolonged wildfire seasons, many cities in the interior American West—including Utah’s Wasatch Front urban corridor—experienced smoky skies from distant wildfires. These smoke incursions are one of the consequences of the region’s changing climate and are likely to only become more severe in the coming years. Following this discussion of recent smoke patterns, this paper briefly explores two other urban smoke geographies: specifically, industrial smoke in Anaconda, Montana in the 1940s-1980s and agricultural smoke in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in the 1980s-2000s. While the specifics of these smoke geographies are unique, understanding how smoke interacts with and shapes urban landscapes and experiences at different times and places can help construct a conceptual framework for understanding the geographies of smoke in the cities of the American West.