UN warns wildfires are eroding global air quality gains

The World Meteorological Organization warned on Monday that increasingly intense wildfires and heatwaves risk undermining international efforts to improve air quality and protect human health, as climate change makes it harder for countries to meet pollution targets.

In its latest annual Air Quality and Climate Bulletin, the UN weather agency said air pollution and climate change are closely linked and must be tackled through coordinated policies rather than in isolation. The report warned that even as regulations in Europe and North America have reduced industrial and transport emissions of fine particulate matter, exposure to fire-related PM2.5 has increased.reuters+1

"No matter how clean your city or your region is … if you have a lot of pollution brought about by wildfires, that has the potential to negatively impact air quality in those regions as well," Lorenzo Labrador, a scientific officer at the WMO, told Reuters.reuters

A Growing Health Toll

The report highlighted the dangers of PM2.5 and ground-level ozone, pollutants linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Labrador told AFP that microparticles generated by burning vegetation are "much more toxic" than those emitted by other sources, including car exhaust, and that conventional risk models "may underestimate wildfire-attributable mortality by up to 93 percent."tbsnews+1

A study cited in the bulletin found that extreme fire-smoke events have tripled globally since the 1990s and may have contributed to nearly 100,000 additional deaths per year between 2010 and 2018.reuters+1

The WMO also called for improved monitoring of black carbon, microplastics and other aerosols, which it said remain poorly tracked despite their widespread presence in the atmosphere.timesofisrael

Europe on the Front Lines

The report arrives after a year of extreme heat and destructive wildfires across parts of Europe, including Spain, France and Greece. PM2.5 concentrations in 2025 were above long-term averages in northern Canada, parts of Russia and western-central Africa due to heightened fire activity, while northwestern Spain emerged as a pollution hotspot following exceptional late-summer fires.straitstimes+1

More than 600,000 hectares of land have burned within European Union countries in the first eight months of 2026, far exceeding the 20-year average of around 280,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System. The wildfire threat is also spreading northward, with traditionally cooler regions such as Scotland and southern Scandinavia facing increased risk as drier conditions become more common.europeansting

"People should not assume that wet or green landscapes are immune to fire," said Will Hayes, a researcher with the UK's Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society. "During dry, warm and windy periods, vegetation can become highly flammable, even in upland and northern regions."europeansting