Summary of Air Pollution and Wildfires (2024)
According to a report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), wildfires, which have likely increased in frequency due to climate change, significantly contributed to air pollution in 2024. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that air pollution leads to approximately 4.5 million premature deaths annually. The WMO report identified regions with intense pollution, particularly those that experienced severe wildfires, including the Amazon basin, Canada, Siberia, and Central Africa.
Global warming, primarily driven by fossil fuel emissions, is altering weather patterns, resulting in more frequent and extensive wildfires worldwide. These fires add particulate matter to the atmosphere, exacerbated by the combustion of coal, oil, gas, wood, as well as emissions from transportation and agriculture. The WMO emphasized that wildfires are a significant contributor to particulate pollution and warned that this issue will worsen as the climate continues to heat up, threatening infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health.
Ko Barrett, the WMO’s Deputy Secretary-General, stressed the need to address climate change and air quality together, as they are interlinked challenges that must be tackled to protect the planet, communities, and economies. While the report focuses on the situation in 2024, it also noted that record wildfires in southern Europe earlier this year had similarly contributed to air pollution across the continent.
On a positive note, efforts to reduce emissions have led to a decrease in particulate pollution in eastern China, indicating that targeted actions can yield successful results in combating air quality issues.
