The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released its Air Quality and Climate Bulletin, highlighting how increasingly severe wildfires and heatwaves are worsening air quality and threatening human health, particularly through PM2.5 and ground-level ozone.
The report notes that extreme fire-smoke events have increased threefold since the 1990s and may have contributed to nearly 100,000 additional deaths per year between 2010 and 2018. Meanwhile, heatwaves can accelerate the formation of ground-level ozone, increasing the risk of respiratory diseases.
WMO also highlights pollutants such as black carbon and microplastics, which can travel across continents and oceans. The organization stresses that air pollution and climate change must be addressed together to protect human health and ecosystems in the long term.
Cr. WHO