Inferno in the Air: The Global Health Toll of Landscape Fires

The Lancet study reveals over 90% of deaths linked to air pollution from landscape fires occur in low to middle-income countries. Addressing socioeconomic disparities and enforcing climate policies are crucial to mitigate the associated public health risks.

A recent study published in The Lancet has found that over 90% of the globe's annual deaths linked to air pollution from landscape fires occur in low and middle-income nations, prominently including India.

China, Indonesia, and countries in sub-Saharan Africa also show high disease burdens from these fires, both natural and human-made, according to a research team including experts from Monash University, Australia. The resultant air pollution significantly contributes to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

Analyzing data from 204 countries over 2000-2019, the study—utilizing the 2019 Global Burden of Diseases Study and coordinated by the University of Washington's IHME—calls for intensified climate action and efforts to bridge socioeconomic gaps with support from wealthier nations to mitigate these health impacts.

(With inputs from agencies.)