Vicious circle of climate change, wildfires and air pollution has major impacts

05 September 2024

A vicious cycle of climate change, wildfires and air pollution is having a spiralling negative impact on human health, ecosystems and agriculture, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin includes a special focus on wildfires. It also looks at global and regional concentrations of particulate matter pollution and its harmful effects on crops in 2023.

The WMO bulletin was released for Clean Air for Blue Skies Day on 7 September. This year’s theme is Invest in Clean Air Now. Ambient air pollution causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths annually and wreaks a high economic and environmental cost.

The bulletin, the fourth in an annual series, explores the intricate relationship between air quality and climate.

The chemical species that lead to a degradation in air quality are normally co-emitted with greenhouse gases. Thus, changes in one inevitably cause changes in the other.

Air quality in turn affects ecosystem health as air pollutants settle from the atmosphere to Earth’s surface. Deposition of nitrogen, sulfur and ozone reduces the services provided by natural ecosystems such as clean water, biodiversity, and carbon storage.

“Climate change and air quality cannot be treated separately. They go hand-in-hand and must be tackled together. It would be a win-win situation for the health of our planet, its people and our economies, to recognize the inter-relationship and act accordingly,” said WMO Deputy-Secretary-General Ko Barrett.

“This Air Quality and Climate Bulletin relates to 2023. The first eight months of 2024 have seen a continuation of those trends, with intense heat and persistent droughts fuelling the risk of wildfires and air pollution. Climate change means that we face this scenario with increasing frequency. Interdisciplinary science and research is key to finding solutions,” said Ko Barrett.