Mapping Invisible Threats: A Network-Based Approach to Understanding Air Pollution Spread

As wildfires intensify across North America, they leave more than scorched earth in their wake. Invisible clouds of fine particulate matter—PM₂.₅, measuring 2.5 microns or smaller—travel vast distances, infiltrating lungs and triggering serious health consequences [2-4]. A recent study by Bashan, Li, and Wang [5] introduces a novel method to track these pollutants using dynamic spatial networks that capture the systemic spread of air pollution across the United States.