‘I couldn’t breathe’: the deadly health burden of wildfire smoke
Wildfire smoke is emerging as a significant global health crisis, causing more annual deaths than other natural disasters combined. Scientists are studying how toxic particulates from forest fires infiltrate the body and impact long-term mortality.
Why it matters
As climate change increases the frequency of wildfires, the public health burden of air pollution is becoming a critical, often overlooked, global mortality factor.
People look toward the downtown skyline from the Toronto Islands as forest fires cause poor air quality over the city./Getty Images People look toward the downtown skyline from the Toronto Islands as forest fires cause poor air quality over the city./Getty Images The Saturday read Wildfires ‘I couldn’t breathe’: the deadly health burden of wildfire smoke Scientists race to untangle complex links between exposure and mortality as fire weather grows more prevalent
A thousand kilometres from the infernos gorging on northern Ontario’s boreal forests, Erin O’Connor watched the sky above Canada’s biggest city turn an “almost post-apocalyptic” orange as it filled with light-scattering particles of soot and ash. Stepping outside the halls of Toronto General hospital, where air filters were keeping patients safe from the worst of the fumes, she was struck by a smell so strong it felt like standing by a campfire.
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