Have wildfires become a major public health risk?

Bertie speaks with Mark Parrington about this year’s record-breaking wildfires, and the health implications of increasing air pollution. Mark is a senior scientist at the EU’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, where he uses satellite imagery to monitor wildfire emissions in real-time. He tells Bertie about the scale of the recent surge in wildfires across Europe, North America, and the Arctic, and the health impacts of particulate matter and long-range pollution transport. They also discuss the climate implications as wildfires – especially in Arctic peatlands - release millions of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. Further reading: Arctic Climate Change Update 2024: Key Trends and Impacts, AMAP , 2024 State of Wildfires 2023-2024, Earth System Science Data, 2024 'Global, regional, and national mortality burden attributable to air pollution from landscape fires: a health impact assessment study' , The Lancet , 2024 ' EU wildfires worst on record as burning season continues ', The Guardian, 2025 ' Why are Europe and the Arctic heating up faster than the rest of the world?' Copernicus, 2025 'Current wildfire situation in Europe' , The Joint Research Centre: EU Science Hub, 2025 Send us Fan Mail Click here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.

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Have wildfires become a major public health risk? is an episode from The Economy, Land & Climate Podcast by Land and Climate Review .

This episode is 17:12 long.

This episode was published on Aug 29, 2025.

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