Geneva: A report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warned that wildfires, whose frequency is likely increasing due to climate change, contributed significantly to air pollution last year.
According to World Health Organisation, ambient air pollution causes 4.5 million premature deaths annually. The WMO's 2024 report highlighted pollution hotspots in areas hit by severe wildfires such as the Amazon Basin, Canada, Siberia, and Central Africa.
As global warming, largely driven by fossil fuel emissions, alters weather patterns, wildfires have become more frequent and widespread, adding particulate matter to the air. This is also produced by coal, oil, gas and wood burning, as well as transport and agriculture.
The WMO stressed that wildfires are a major contributor to particulate pollution and are expected to worsen with rising temperatures, posing growing risks to infrastructure, ecosystems and human health.
Although the report covered 2024, the organisation noted that record wildfires in Southern Europe this year had also contributed to pollution across the continent.