Culture
Environment
A study cited in the report found extreme fire-smoke events have tripled globally since the 1990s and may have contributed to nearly 100,000 additional deaths annually between 2010 and 2018.
A person walks with a bicycle along a road shrouded in haze from wildfires in Banyuasin, South Sumatra, September 6, 2026. (Reuters/Abriansyah Liberto)
Pollution from increasingly intense wildfires and heat waves could undermine global efforts to improve air quality and protect human health, the United Nations' weather agency said on Monday, warning that climate change is making it harder to meet international air quality goals.In its annual report on air quality and the climate, the World Meteorological Organization said air pollution and climate change are closely linked and should be tackled through coordinated policies rather than in isolation. It warned that meeting the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines will become more difficult because extreme wildfires are more likely to occur in the future.
