Wildfire Smoke Set to Cause Mounting Deaths and Economic Losses

Increased wildfire smoke could lead to 1.4 million premature deaths globally each year by the end of this century, according to a new study.

Scientists at China’s Tsinghua University found that early deaths linked to particulate matter in wildfire smoke could rise to six times 2010-2014 levels by next century depending on how much global carbon emissions increase. Africa could see an elevenfold jump in deaths.

In another study, researchers at Stanford and Stony Brook University separately found that wildfire pollution could lead to over 71,000 premature deaths by 2050 in the US under a high emissions scenario. For the past decade, an average ...