Nature - Study Finds That 82,000 People Died Worldwide From Smoke From Canadian Wildfires In 2023

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Tiny toxic particles spewed by Canadian wildfires killed 82,000 people in 2023, according to a study published in Nature on Wednesday. The long tendrils of smoke choked towns not just in Canada and the US, but also across the Atlantic. The pollution was responsible for 22,000 early deaths in Europe alone. The findings add to a growing body of evidence that suggests smoke from wildfires ranks among the greatest threats to human health. In December, a study in the Lancet medical journal attributed 1.53 million deaths each year to exposure to air pollution from wildfires.

Despite the vast death toll, experts warn of a widespread lack of public awareness and government action. The air quality app that Vigh checked on the day that Carter died had relied on a monitoring station 60 miles (100km) away. It was too far to detect the invisible pollutants filling the air around their home. (Ed. - Mother of 9-year-old asthma fatality Carter) Vigh has since started an initiative with the BC Lung Foundation in Carter’s memory, distributing free air quality monitors to towns that lack adequate coverage. “His life was taken way too soon, but he’s out there saving lives for other kids and adults.”

The wildfires that ravaged Canada in 2023 were the country’s most destructive on record, and pumped out pollutants across the world. They increased annual exposure to dangerous particles known as PM2.5 by 65% in Canada, 21% in the US, and 4% in Europe, according to data from the Nature study. The particles are small enough to pass from the lungs into the bloodstream, irritating everything from the airways to the brain.

Prof Cathryn Tonne, an environmental epidemiologist at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), who was not involved in the study, said the research was important but the death toll was probably conservative. “This analysis assumes wildfire PM2.5 has the same toxicity as PM2.5 from all sources in its estimate of deaths due to exposure over the course of a year,” said Tonne, who published a study last month suggesting short-term exposure to wildfire smoke was deadlier than previously thought. “This is likely an underestimate as there is growing evidence that wildfire PM2.5 is more toxic than PM2.5 from all sources.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/10/smoke-from-canadas-wildfires-killed-nine-year-old-carter-vigh-and-82000-others-around-the-world