Fire-driven air pollution is rising worldwide and reversing decades of clean air gains – News-Medical

Report on the Global Health Burden of Fire-Related Particulate Matter and its Implications for Sustainable Development Goals

A recent scientific assessment reveals that increasing global exposure to fire-related fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is creating a significant public health crisis. This trend directly undermines progress towards several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those concerning health, climate action, and sustainable ecosystems.

Impact on SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

The rise in fire-related PM2.5 presents a direct challenge to SDG Target 3.9, which aims to substantially reduce deaths and illnesses from air pollution. The study documents a growing health burden from acute exposure to these pollutants.

Escalating Mortality Rates

• The average annual excess deaths from acute fire PM2.5 exposure increased from approximately 69,000 in 1990-1999 to nearly 99,000 in 2010-2018.
• Deaths attributable to respiratory diseases rose from 7,000 to 9,000 over the same period.
• Cardiovascular-related deaths showed a more dramatic increase, rising from 17,000 to 30,000.
• Extreme fire events, such as those in Eastern Europe in 2010, caused mortality spikes, with an estimated 120,000 deaths in that year alone.

Vulnerable Populations at Risk

The health impacts are not evenly distributed, affecting the most vulnerable populations and contradicting the core SDG principle of “leaving no one behind.”

• Children under five years of age accounted for 35% of all respiratory deaths from fire PM2.5 during 1990-1999.
• Adults over 60 years old bore the majority of cardiovascular deaths attributable to fire-related pollution.

Implications for SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land)

The report highlights a critical feedback loop between climate change, ecosystem health, and air pollution, impacting both SDG 13 and SDG 15.

Climate Change as a Primary Driver

Climate change, through the creation of hotter and drier conditions, is identified as a key factor increasing the frequency and intensity of landscape fires. This trend demonstrates a tangible impact of climate change that directly harms human health and reverses progress on clean air initiatives.

Ecosystem Management and Air Quality

1. The study confirms that fire-related PM2.5 increased across all vegetated continents between 1990 and 2018, even as pollution from other sources decreased in many regions.
2. The mean number of extreme exposure days (EXdays) tripled globally from 1990 to 2018, indicating a significant degradation of air quality during fire seasons.
3. The findings underscore the urgent need for more sustainable forest and land management practices, as called for in SDG 15, to mitigate fire risk and its associated health burdens.

Regional Disparities and Global Impact

The analysis reveals significant regional variations in exposure and health outcomes, highlighting global inequalities in environmental health risks and challenging SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

Key Regional Findings

• Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America: These regions face “substantial perpetual fire occurrence,” with countries like Brazil, Bolivia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo experiencing some of the largest increases in extreme exposure days.
• Europe: Eastern Europe experienced a sharp increase in fire-related PM2.5 and bore the largest burden of attributable cardiovascular deaths.
• North America: High-income regions saw a rapid increase in fire-related PM2.5, eroding decades of progress in achieving cleaner air.
• South Asia: This region, along with East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, showed the largest burden of respiratory deaths.

Conclusion: An Integrated Approach to Sustainable Development

The increasing contribution of fires to ambient PM2.5 is counteracting global clean air policies and creating a significant obstacle to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The data indicates that by 2018, over half the global population (53%) was subjected to persistent fire smoke exposure. Addressing this challenge requires an integrated policy approach that links public health initiatives (SDG 3) with robust climate action (SDG 13) and sustainable ecosystem management (SDG 15) to protect human health and ensure environmental stability.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

1. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

   • The article’s central theme is the “growing global health burden” caused by fire-related air pollution. It explicitly discusses the negative health impacts, such as “respiratory, mental health, and cardiovascular problems,” and quantifies the “annual excess deaths from acute exposure to fire PM2.5.” This directly aligns with the goal of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.

2. SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

   • The article focuses on air quality, a critical component of sustainable urban living. It warns that the rise in fire-related PM2.5 is “eroding progress in clean air” and counteracting “clean air policies worldwide.” The analysis of “population-weighted exposure to all-source PM2.5” is a key metric for assessing the environmental impact on communities, connecting directly to making human settlements safe and sustainable.

3. SDG 13: Climate Action

   • The article establishes a clear link between climate change and the increase in landscape fires. It states that wildfires “have become more frequent due to climate change driven by drier conditions and higher temperatures.” This connects the issue of fire-related pollution directly to the urgent need to combat climate change and its impacts.

4. SDG 15: Life on Land

   • The article discusses fires occurring in “vegetated areas like grasslands, agricultural lands, and forests.” The increase in these fires indicates a degradation of terrestrial ecosystems. The conclusion recommends “more sustainable forest management” as a vital solution, directly addressing the goal of protecting, restoring, and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 3.9: Substantially reduce deaths and illnesses from pollution

   • This target aims to “substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.” The article directly addresses this by quantifying the “excess deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases attributable to fire PM2.5” and tracking the increase in the average number of deaths from “around 89,000 in 2000-09 and about 99,000 in 2010-18.”

2. Target 11.6: Reduce the environmental impact of cities

   • This target focuses on reducing the “adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality.” The article’s analysis of rising “population-weighted exposure to fire PM2.5” in various regions, including high-income North America and Europe, directly relates to monitoring and addressing urban air quality.

3. Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience to climate-related hazards

   • This target calls for strengthening “resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters.” The article identifies increasingly frequent and intense wildfires, fueled by climate change, as a major hazard. The discussion of their growing impact on global health underscores the need for greater resilience to these events.

4. Target 15.1: Ensure the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems

   • This target aims to “ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests.” The article’s conclusion that “more sustainable forest management will be vital to alleviate exposure and health burdens” is a direct call to action related to this target, as landscape fires degrade these exact ecosystems.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. Indicator for Target 3.9: Mortality rate from air pollution

   • The official indicator is 3.9.1: “Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution.” The article provides direct data for this, including estimates of “annual excess deaths from acute exposure to fire PM2.5,” which reached “about 120,000 deaths” in 2010, and specific mortality figures for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. It also tracks the “global crude death rate for all-cause mortality” related to fire exposure.

2. Indicator for Target 11.6: Annual mean levels of PM2.5

   • The official indicator is 11.6.2: “Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted).” The article is built around this metric, reporting on “population-weighted exposure to fire PM2.5” and its rate of increase, such as “over 0.02 μg/m3 per year” in certain regions.

3. Implied Indicator for Target 13.1: Frequency and intensity of climate-related hazards

   • While not a formal UN indicator, the article uses several metrics that measure the increasing hazard of wildfires. These include the frequency of “extreme fire-smoke days” (EXdays), which “tripling from 1990 to 2018,” and the prevalence of “perpetual fire occurrence.” These metrics serve as direct measures of the climate-related hazard discussed in the article.

4. Implied Indicator for Target 15.1: Health of forest ecosystems

   • The article implies an indicator related to the health and sustainable management of forests. The metric of “perpetual fire occurrence,” where “53% of the global population experienced ‘minimum perpetual fire occurrence’,” can be used as a proxy indicator for the degradation of vegetated lands and forests due to unsustainable conditions or management practices.

4. Summary of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: news-medical.net