Smoke pollution from wildfires causes 12,000 extra deaths a year, experts warn

Smoke pollution from wildfires fueled by climate change has killed nearly 12,000 more people worldwide in recent years than several decades ago.

Researchers said this week that deaths from wildfire smoke attributed to climate change rose annually from 669 this decade to 12,566 in the 2010s. Fires due to fire-related air pollution increased from 46,401 in the 1960s to 98,748 in the 2010s, but only 12,000 were linked to climate change.

South America, Australia and Europe have seen the most significant increases in deaths linked to climate change, as humidity in these regions has decreased and temperatures in boreal forests have increased. While in South Asia, increased humidity has led to fewer deaths.

“This indicates that climate change poses an increasing threat to public health, due to increasing smoke from wildfires, even in densely populated areas,” Chae Yeon Park, a researcher at the National Institute Japanese Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and lead author of the study. research, said in a statement.

Park’s study was published Monday in the journal Climate change. Its international contributors used pollution models and health risk assessment guidance to directly link emissions deaths to climate change.

When a wildfire rages, its thick black smoke, which contains a mixture of dangerous pollutants, produces particles called PM2.5. Although the air humans breathe still contains polluting particles, exposure to PM2.5 is known to affect the lungs and heart.

Exposure to particle pollution has been linked to premature death in people with related illnesses, irregular heartbeat, worsening asthma, non-fatal heart attacks, decreased lung function and breathing difficulties.

People with heart and lung diseases, the elderly, pregnant women, children, minority populations, and populations with low socioeconomic status are most susceptible to this pollution.

In a warming world, conditions are becoming hotter and drier and the threat of smoke pollution continues to grow. Climate change increases the risk of extreme fires every year. Wildfires now account for about a quarter of Americans’ total exposure to PM2.5, which is also created by construction, transportation and the fossil fuel industry. PM2.5 from the burning of fossil fuels was responsible for an estimated 8.7 million deaths worldwide in 2018.

Smoke can extend across countries, like that which traveled from western Canada to the northern United States over the past two summers. Wildfire smoke has reversed progress on clean air in 35 states. Nearly 30 wildfires are burning in 12 states across the country on Tuesday.

“It is crucial to understand that the impact of fire smoke extends beyond people living directly in affected areas: it also significantly affects people living in cities,” said researcher Christopher Reyer at PIK and co-author of the study.

Even if cities don’t face immediate deaths from wildfires, exposure can have serious health consequences.

“It is therefore essential to reduce emissions and improve fire management strategies, in order to minimize the impacts of fires on ecosystems, economies and public health across the world,” Reyer said.