Climate
Forest fires: smoke kills 1.5 million people annually, climate risk worsening
Powerful wildfires forced tens of thousands of residents in southern Europe to evacuate following successive heatwaves. The most lethal danger is indirect: according to The Guardian, air pollution from fires kills 1.5 million people worldwide annually. In 2023, smoke from Canadian wildfires caused 22,000 premature deaths in Europe. Climate change, with approximately 1.3°C of global warming, intensifies this risk. By the end of the century, the globally burned area could increase by 40% to 100%.