The Effects of Smoke on Cognitive Function and Performance

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When we have smokey conditions, what's happening is a really whole body response to the smoke. The nairies in the coal mine of this exposure are anybody with asthma or COPD where your airways want to close up sometimes. We do see small decrements to cognitive function and performance when it's smokey outside. But then we also see that there's increases in extreme cardiovascular events when it's Smokey.

Earlier in June 2023, a series of wildfires across Quebec, Canada blanketed eastern North America in smoke. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we speak to three scientists about how climate change is exacerbating hazards like these wildfires, and to understand how an event like this impacts health, business and the economy.

We talk to Werner Kurz, senior research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service of Natural Resources Canada, about how wildfires can impact net-zero goals.

We speak with Terry Thompson, Chief Climate Scientist at the Climate Center of Excellence at S&P Global Sustainable1. He talks to us about the financial impacts of wildfires.

And to understand the health impacts of climate change broadly and wildfires specifically, we interview Sarah Henderson, Scientific Director of Environmental Health Services at Canada’s British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, and at the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health.

Photo source: Getty Images

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