Have wildfires become a major public health risk?
Have wildfires become a major public health risk?  
Podcast: The Land & Climate Podcast
Published On: Fri Aug 29 2025
Description: 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 MailClick here for our website to read all our most recent Land and Climate Review features and pieces.