RAPID WARMING OF THE HIGH NORTHERN LATITUDES (HNL) HAS RESULTED IN SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES ACROSS NUMEROUS ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT OF ALASKA. UNLIKE MANY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES WHICH SHOW A LAGGED OR GRADUAL RESPONSE TO THE WARMING CONDITIONS WILDFIRE OCCURRENCE AND BEHAVIOR IS IMPACTED BY CHANGING METEOROLOGY ON VERY SHORT TIME SCALES. NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED A NOTABLE INCREASE IN FIRE OCCURRENCE ACROSS BOREAL FORESTS OF NORTH AMERICA OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS. MOREOVER FUTURE PROJECTIONS INDICATE THAT FIRE WILL CONTINUE TO OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY AND RESULT IN MORE EXTENSIVE AND SEVERE BURNS. HOWEVER DESPITE THE EXTENSIVE FIRE OCCURRENCE AND IMPACTS ON THE LAND FIRE OCCURRENCE IN ALASKA IS RARELY VIEWED AS HAVING A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON ITS POPULATION. CONSIDERING THE RELATIVELY LOW NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING IN ALASKA AND VAST EXPANSES OF WILDERNESS AREAS DIRECT IMPACT ON HUMAN LIFE AND PROPERTY HAS INDEED BEEN VERY LOW. HOWEVER FAIRLY LITTLE HAS BEEN DONE TO QUANTIFY THE IMPACT OF WILDFIRE EMISSIONS ON AIR QUALITY AND SUBSEQUENT HEALTH OF POPULATION IN ALASKA. .THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION RECENTLY ESTIMATED 3.7 MILLION DEATHS WORLDWIDE AND 94 000 IN HIGH INCOME AMERICAN COUNTRIES IN 2012 FROM EXPOSURE TO OUTDOOR AIR POLLUTION. THE MAJORITY OF THESE DEATHS ARE ATTRIBUTED TO CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AND AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CARDIOVASCULAR OUTCOMES IN GENERAL AND AMBIENT AIR POLLUTION IS WELL-ESTABLISHED. HOWEVER THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE STUDIES HAVE FOCUSED ON TRAFFIC-RELATED AMBIENT AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURES AND VERY LITTLE RESEARCH HAS EXAMINED HOW EXPOSURES TO PARTICULATES FROM FOREST FIRES CONTRIBUTE TO THESE HEALTH OUTCOMES. WILDFIRES RELEASE LARGE AMOUNTS OF PARTICULATE MATTER (PM) WHICH IS TRANSPORTED FROM THE SOURCE AREAS ACROSS THE REGION FOLLOWING PREVAILING WIND PATTERNS WITH A CONSEQUENT SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON AIR QUALITY ACROSS THE STATE OF ALASKA AS A WHOLE. THE EXTENT INTENSITY AND LONGEVITY OF MANY FIRE EVENTS GENERALLY EXCEED THOSE IN THE CONTINENTAL US THUS ALLOWING FOR REPEATED PROLONGED PERIODS OF PM EXPOSURE IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE STATE. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT PM FROM WILDFIRES IS MORE TOXIC TO THE HUMAN LUNG COMPARED TO THE SAME LEVELS OF PM POLLUTION FROM AMBIENT SOURCES. ADDITIONALLY STUDIES HAVE SHOWN AN INCREASE IN RESPIRATORY DISTRESS IN VULNERABLE GROUPS OF POPULATION DURING INTENSE BUT SHORT-LIVED WILDFIRE EVENTS IN SAN DIEGO COUNTY CALIFORNIA. A LINKAGE BETWEEN CARDIOVASCULAR DISTRESS AND MORTALITY WAS SUGGESTED DURING THE INTENSE FIRE SEASON OF 2010 IN EUROPEAN RUSSIA. HOWEVER ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF STUDIES HAVE EXAMINED WHETHER CERTAIN SPECIFIC CARDIOVASCULAR AND RESPIRATORY CONDITIONS (HEART FAILURE CARDIOPULMONARY OBSTRUCTIVE DISORDER (COPD) ATRIAL FIBRILLATION AND ASTHMA) ARE ASSOCIATED WITH AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURES AND SPECIFICALLY WITH THOSE RESULTING FROM WILDFIRE OCCURRENCE. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL FOCUS ON THE SECTION OF THE SOLICITATION AIMED AT EXAMINING THE SOCIETAL IMPACTS OF CHANGES TO ARCTIC AND BOREAL ECOSYSTEMS. IN THIS PROJECT OUR TEAM WILL COMBINE OUR EXPERTISE IN REMOTE SENSING OF FIRE EXTENT AND SEVERITY WILDFIRE EMISSIONS MODELING ATMOSPHERIC TRANSPORT AND SPATIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY TO EXAMINE THE IMPACT OF POPULATION EXPOSURE TO WILDFIRE PM EMISSIONS AND ASSOCIATED HEALTH OUTCOMES BASED ON SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF FIRE ACTIVITY AND HOSPITALIZATION RECORDS. AN IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTION WILL BE TO IDENTIFY WHETHER CERTAIN SUBPOPULATIONS ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO AIR POLLUTION-RELATED CARDIOVASCULAR AND RESPIRATORY OUTCOMES. IN THIS SUB-GOAL WE WILL EXAMINE THE RELATIVE IMPACT OF WILDFIRE EMISSIONS ON URBAN CENTERS AND INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS. AS POPULATION IN THE STATE OF ALASKA CONTINUES TO GROW AND THE PROJECTED WILDFIRE OCCURRENCE IN LIKELY TO SURPASS PRESENT LEVELS IN THE NEAR FUTURE THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY WILL HAVE LARGE IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN ALASKA. .