Geneva: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has sounded an alarm over the growing role of wildfires in worsening global air pollution, warning that these climate-linked disasters are inflicting severe harm on public health, ecosystems, and economies. In its 2024 assessment, the UN weather agency reported that massive fires across the Amazon basin, Canada, Siberia, and central Africa contributed significantly to global particulate pollution, rivaling emissions from fossil fuels, transport, and agriculture.
According to the WMO, climate change is directly fuelling this trend by creating hotter, drier, and more unstable weather conditions that trigger more frequent and intense fires. These wildfires release vast amounts of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which can travel thousands of kilometres, turning regional blazes into global air quality crises. Experts caution that this growing cycle of climate-driven wildfires and worsening air pollution threatens to undo decades of progress in environmental protection.
The health implications are particularly grave. The World Health Organization estimates that outdoor air pollution already causes around 4.5 million premature deaths every year. Smoke from wildfires is a major contributor to this toll, aggravating respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and disproportionately affecting children, the elderly, and people in vulnerable communities. “Air pollution and climate change are two sides of the same coin,” the WMO report emphasized, urging governments to address both challenges together rather than in isolation.
The agency also noted that the economic costs of wildfire-related air pollution extend far beyond healthcare. The fallout disrupts agriculture, damages infrastructure, reduces labour productivity, and heightens risks for industries dependent on stable environmental conditions. This mounting burden, it warned, risks destabilizing already fragile economies in several regions of the world.
Amid this grim picture, the WMO highlighted a rare positive development. Eastern China has seen a decline in particulate matter levels due to sustained policy interventions and pollution control efforts. This, it said, demonstrates that coordinated action and stringent enforcement can yield tangible improvements, even in highly industrialized regions.
The findings underscore a critical message: wildfires are no longer just natural disasters they have become systemic global threats that link climate change, public health, and economic stability. The UN agency urged governments to ramp up mitigation and adaptation strategies, stressing that time is running out to protect both the planet and its people from the cascading consequences of unchecked climate change.