The Lancet, 14 December 2024

Catching smoke: the rising and unequal burden of landscape fires on global health

Landscape fires occur on every continent except Antarctica. While some fires have devasting effects on local communities, more than two billion people around the world are also affected by air pollution produced by these fires, also known as smoke pollution. As climate change increases the risk of more severe and frequent fires, an updated global human health burden assessment due to smoke pollution exposure is critically required.