It is difficult not to forget the Canadian forest fire season 2023, when more than 16 million hectares of forest were lost, thousands were displaced and the stifled cities throughout Canada and the United States
And it turns out that Canada experienced its worst levels of air pollution that year since 1998, according to a new report published today for the Air Quality Index of the University of Chicago (AQLI). At the same time, the report found that pollution levels did not change much for the rest of the world in 2023.
If those levels continued to The life of a person, the average Canadian I would lose approximately two years of your life expectancy, according to the report.
Efforts have been made worldwide, even in Canada, to stop the harmful emissions of fine particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, also known as PM 2.5. But forest fires are reversing those advances, with serious health consequences.
“Air pollution is the greatest external threat to human well -being on the planet, and I don’t think that is widely recognized,” said Michael Greenstone, one of the report authors. “More years of life expectancy are lost for the average person on the planet due to air pollution than to maternal and child malnutrition, than due to alcohol that due to tobacco.”
The national Canada standard is 8.8 micrograms of PM 2.5 per square meter; The World Health Organization standard is five. In 2023, the Canadians were exposed to 9.2 micrograms per square meter, or 1.5 times 2022. And more than half of the Canadians breathed air that exceeded that national standard.
Greenstone said that both Canada and the US. Fossil fuels. But he says it is frustrating to see that he rises as he did in 2023.
“What is really interesting of reversals in Canada and the United States is that they are demonstrating that air pollution is like the zombie that we thought we had killed, but is returning to life.”
Health impacts could be a underestimation
Although 2023 may have been the worst registered year for forest fires, 2025 is the second worst, just behind 2024. And the investigation has shown that as we continue pumping greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, forest fires will only increase.
This worries Dr. Courtney Howard, a doctor from the Emergency Room at Yellowknife and the president of the global climate and health alliance.
“I spend most of my time working for free on this issue, because climate change and its impact on health are, with much, the greatest threat to the health and health systems of our time,” he said.
But he pointed out that the AQLI report may have underestimated health results due to the air pollution of forest fire smoke.
The grasslands are under a special aerial quality statement of the Canadian environment due to the smoke of forest fires on parts of the northwest territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.
Howard pointed out that a study published earlier this month pointed out that a given level of PM 2.5 of forest fire smoke has worse health results that other forms of PM 2.5, such as vehicles with gasoline and industrial emissions.
Not separating the different sources, “it would underestimate the mortality of 2.5 attributable of 2.5 years related to fire by 93 percent,” said Howard. “That means that if the majority of our PM 2.5 is due to the smoke of forest fires, the health damage that this study identifies are probably a underestimation is probably.”
And, he said, the effects of health are vast and serious, and the particles are so small that they go down to the lungs and then enter the bloodstream, which can cause pulmonary diseases such as asthma. This has also been associated with stroke, cardiovascular diseases and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.
The ‘Past fossil fuel ghost’
Howard is frustrated to see that the fossil fuel industry continues to be subsidized by the Government, while people fight against the consequences, such as the smoke of forest fires.
“We are subsidizing a sun establishment industry in Canada that is actually one of the greatest taxpayers to health damages for our children,” he said.
Greenstone has a unique analogy for what we are seeing today: “I think of this return from air pollution through forest fires such as the ghost of past fossil fuels.”
He says that the recent report highlights the importance of knowing the quality of the air where it lives. He said that government action worldwide has increased. This includes China, which has seen a reduction in air pollution by 40 percent since 2014.
“Air pollution is not just a number,” he said.
“It is an indicator, so that people can lead healthier, more full and longer lives.”
