Literature v3 · Research topic
Do U.S. counties with high energy burden face more weeks of wildfire smoke?
Explore if households already struggling with energy costs also bear the brunt of wildfire smoke using free EPA, NOAA, and Census data.
Why this matters
As climate change intensifies heat waves and wildfires, the same households struggling with energy bills may also breathe the most polluted air—but no existing study has linked these everyday hazards using free public data.
Project scores
Difficulty
This project involves analyzing publicly available datasets on energy burden and wildfire smoke. Over 8 weeks, you will clean and merge data, perform statistical tests, and create visualizations. Basic spreadsheet skills and introductory statistics are helpful. You will learn to handle real-world data and draw policy-relevant conclusions.
3 of 5 difficulty
Strengths
- Uses publicly accessible data from government sources
- Addresses a timely issue linking energy and climate justice
- Clear, testable hypothesis with straightforward analysis
Skills built
Zero-cost data
Zero-cost dataResearch gap
As climate change intensifies heat waves and wildfires, the same households struggling with energy bills may also breathe the most polluted air—but no existing study has linked these everyday hazards using free public data.
Curriculum alignment
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