Air pollution caused by fires is linked to more than 1.5 million deaths a year worldwide, the vast majority of which occur in developing countries, according to a study covering the period 2000 to 2019 published on Thursday, November 28.
This number of deaths is also expected to increase in the coming years, as climate change makes forest fires more frequent and intense, indicates the study published in the scientific journal the lancet.
The international team of researchers examined existing data, both on wildfires ravaging nature and on agricultural land burned to clear fields.
Between 2000 and 2019, about 450,000 deaths a year from heart disease were linked to air pollution caused by wildfires, researchers found. And another 220,000 deaths from respiratory illnesses could be attributed to smoke and particles released into the air by the fires.
Africa, China and India are the most affected
Worldwide, a total of 1.53 million deaths from all causes were associated with air pollution caused by fires, the study found. More than 90% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries, and almost 40% in sub-Saharan Africa alone. The countries with the highest number of deaths are China, the Democratic Republic of the 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 far above international health standards, covering the Indian capital.
The authors of the study call for a “urgent action” to address the considerable number of deaths caused by these fires, placing emphasis on “climate injustice” that poor countries experience.
Additionally, the researchers emphasized that ways to avoid smoke from fires (stay away from the most polluted areas, use air purifiers and masks, stay indoors) are not available to people in poorer countries. The latter therefore demand more financial and technological support for the populations of the most affected countries.
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The study comes a week after the UN climate talks, where delegates agreed to an increase in climate financing considered insufficient by developing countries, and after a state of national emergency declared by Ecuador, following the wildfires that devastated more than 10,000 hectares in the south of the country. country.
