<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/18/wildfire-smoke-global-deaths-2050>
"Smoke billowing from wildfires will cause a growing number of deaths around
the world in the decades ahead as the planet continues to heat up, new research
has found.
Wildfire smoke is expected to kill as many as 1.4 million people globally each
year by the end of the century if planet-heating emissions are not curbed,
according to a study published on Thursday.
Separate research, released on the same day, finds a similar spike in wildfire
smoke deaths just in the US, with more than 70,000 people set to die in America
this way by 2050 at the current rate of warming, up from the 40,000 who die
this way each year at this time.
Breathing in smoke from burning forests is thought to be about 10 times more
toxic than inhaling other air pollution given off by the burning of fossil
fuels, with scientists recently warning the impact of this pollution has been
severely underestimated in terms of its impact upon our health.
Wildfire smoke contains ash and soot that contain tiny particles, called PM2.5,
which can, when inhaled, burrow deep in people’s lungs and cause an array of
respiratory and heart problems.
The reach of this threat is extensive, too – recent research estimated that
22,000 people in Europe were killed due to plumes of wildfire smoke coming from
vast forest fires in Canada in 2023, along with many more fatalities in North
America."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
