Increasing impacts of fire air pollution on public and ecosystem health
Xu Yue, Yihan Hu, Chenguang Tian, Rongbin Xu, Wenhua Yu, Yuming Guo
Abstract
Wildfire episodes have become more frequent and severe in recent years.1 Record-breaking fires devastated the Arctic, Amazon, and Australia in 2019–2020. This year, fires began in Canada in May and lasted for several months, resulting in an area burned of 16.5 million hectares by early September. This size is 6–7 times the annual fire area for a normal year in Canada. The favorable fire weather for burning and spread lasted for months (https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/maps/fw). Furthermore, most Canadian fires occur in remote regions far from firefighting facilities, causing fire extinction to be difficult.
Topics & Concepts
Air pollutionEnvironmental scienceEcosystemPollutionEcosystem healthPublic healthEnvironmental planningEnvironmental resource managementEnvironmental protectionEcosystem servicesEcologyBiologyMedicineNursingFire effects on ecosystemsAtmospheric chemistry and aerosolsAtmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics