Global study links 1.5 million deaths every year to air pollution from wildfires
An Australian-led international study has uncovered a startling link between air pollution caused by landscape fires and over 1.5 million deaths worldwide every year. Published on Thursday by Monash University in Melbourne, the study highlights the severe health impacts of wildfire-induced air pollution, revealing that 1.53 million deaths annually between 2000 and 2019 were attributed to this growing environmental crisis.
The study, a comprehensive assessment of the health risks posed by air pollution from landscape fires, was conducted by researchers from universities across the globe. It found that more than 90 percent of deaths associated with wildfire-sourced air pollution occurred in low and middle-income countries, with particularly high mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Asia.
The health impacts are staggering. Of the 1.53 million deaths, 450,000 were linked to cardiovascular diseases, while 220,000 were attributed to respiratory diseases. The study attributes the vast majority of these deaths—77.6 percent—to fine particulate matter produced by wildfires, with the remaining 22.4 percent connected to surface ozone.
The findings underscore the escalating global health crisis, exacerbated by the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires driven by climate change. “As wildfires are increasingly frequent and severe in a warming climate, urgent action is required to address such substantial impact on climate-related mortality and associated environmental injustice,” the authors wrote in the study.
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa were found to have the highest mortality rates from wildfire-sourced air pollution, underscoring the disproportionate burden placed on vulnerable regions. The researchers called for high-income nations to provide financial and technological support to help lower-income countries manage the health consequences of wildfire-related pollution and address the deepening socioeconomic disparities in mortality rates.
The study serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for global collaboration to mitigate the health impacts of landscape fires and reduce the environmental injustices that disproportionately affect the world’s most vulnerable populations.
