A hotter planet is also a smokier one, as residents of New York City are finding out this week. As the intensity and size of wildfires grows, more and more people are being exposed to dangerously unhealthy air. Just how dangerous? Oscar Boyd asks Akshat Rathi to explain the health effects of exposure to intense air pollution. It’s not a new problem, but it’s a growing one and many of us will need to learn how to deal with the risks.

Related stories from Bloomberg Green:

• How wildfire smoke affects human health
• Justin Trudeau on the Zero podcast
• The Australian climate elections on the Zero podcast
• A documentary on Australia’s bushfire babies
• The Big Take podcast on the Black Summer bushfires 

Zero is a production of Bloomberg Green. Our producer is Oscar Boyd and our senior producer is Christine Driscoll. Special thanks to Janet Babin, Kira Bindrim, Zahra Hirji, Kendra Pierre-Louis and Todd Woody. Thoughts or suggestions? Email us at zeropod@bloomberg.net. For more coverage of climate change and solutions, visit bloomberg.com/green