Campfire Smoke and the Anthropocene

Authors: Anna Medlin & Chris Zajchowski

Photo Credit: Wix

ABSTRACT

Homo sapiens burned wood for warmth and cooking for hundreds of thousands of years. The empiricism that dominates the Anthropocene, however, illuminates the harmful impact of wood smoke on human health. We leveraged the empirical case of campground visitors’ exposure to anthropogenic particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) from wood burning at Prince William Forest Park, Virginia, USA to provide a window into the microspatial air quality indexes produced by discretionary campfires. Binary logistic regression illustrates the significant relationship between particulate matter and campfire usage, suggesting multiple potential responses for recreationists, land managers, and scholars. We then transition from “is” to “ought” questions about the ethics of discretionary exposure to particulate matter through wood burning for leisure, an exercise afforded by the epoch. Ultimately, this inquiry yields both practical implications for campfire management and contributes to the more esoteric, ongoing conversations about the connection between fire and our fundamental humanity.

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