Every year 1.5 million deaths from pollution caused by fires

From 2000 to 2019, air pollution caused by fires caused over 1.5 million deaths every year worldwide, 90% of which occur in developing countries. This was revealed by a study published in the journal The Lancet, which predicts that this number will increase in the coming years, as climate change makes forest fires more frequent and more intense.

The international team of researchers examined existing data, both on fires raging in nature and on agricultural land burned to clear fields. From 2000 to 2019, about 450,000 heart disease deaths per year were linked to air pollution from wildfires, according to researchers. Another 220,000 respiratory disease deaths could be attributed to smoke and particles released into the air by the fires.

According to the study, worldwide, a total of 1.53 million deaths from all causes were associated with air pollution caused by wildfires. Over 90% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries, with nearly 40% in sub-Saharan Africa alone. The countries with the highest number of deaths are China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia and Nigeria.

A record number of illegal burning of agricultural fields in northern India is partly responsible for the apocalyptic-looking pollution cloud, with concentrations of harmful microparticles well above international health standards, covering the Indian capital.

The authors of the study call for “urgent action” to address the huge number of deaths caused by these fires, underlining the “climate injustice” experienced by poor countries. Furthermore, ways to avoid wildfire smoke – moving away from the most polluted areas, using air purifiers and masks, staying indoors – are not available to people in poorer countries, the researchers pointed out. They therefore ask for greater financial and technological support for the populations of the most affected countries.

The study is published a week after the United Nations climate talks, COP29, in which delegates agreed on an increase in climate finance deemed insufficient by developing countries, and after the national state of emergency declared by Ecuador, following the forest fires that razed more than 10,000 hectares in the south of the country.