World Meteorological Organization.

WMO warns wildfire smoke may be undercounting tens of thousands of deaths

Global health and ecosystems are at risk as the WMO warns that escalating wildfires and heatwaves are eroding progress in air quality, calling for coordinated climate and air-pollution policies and enhanced monitoring of PM2.5, ground-level ozone, black carbon, and microplastics. The bulletin also highlights that wildfire-derived PM2.5 can be more toxic and may lead to underestimations of mortality, with hotspots and long-term averages showing troubling trends in places like northwestern Spain, northern Canada, and parts of Africa.