Wildfires have surged across multiple continents this summer, leaving not just devastation on the ground but also profound impacts on the air we breathe. While we often think of traffic and industry as the main culprits of air pollution, wildfire smoke is different in both composition and behaviour, and its health burden may be far greater than we have previously recognised.

A nore complex pollution cocktail

Vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions tend to release a relatively predictable set of pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Wildfire smoke, however, is far more complex and depends heavily on what is burning.

Typically, it carries a dense mixture of PM2.5, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), and heavy metals. Some of these are unexpected and especially dangerous - for instance, beryllium, a metal commonly used in electronics and golf clubs, has been found in smoke from urban fires. When inhaled, beryllium can cause severe and irreversible lung disease known as berylliosis.

A blaze consuming trees or crops will therefore release a very different chemical profile compared to fires that engulf plastics, vehicles, or electronics. This variability is one of the defining, and potentially most dangerous, features of wildfire smoke. By contrast, traffic and industrial sources tend to be more stable, better studied, and better regulated.

Distance and reach

Wildfire smoke doesn’t stay local. Plumes can travel thousands of miles, cross continents, and infiltrate indoor spaces often assumed to be safe.

For example, Canadian wildfire smoke recently degraded air quality so severely that Minneapolis had the second-worst air quality in the world, despite being hundreds of miles from the flames. Other plumes from Canada’s fires have spread more than 5,000 miles, reaching as far as Russia and Europe. Globally, a recent study estimated that wildfire smoke degrades indoor air on at least one day each year for 1 billion people worldwide.

Winds play a big role in this process - they feed fires with oxygen, preheat fuels, and carry burning embers far ahead of the main blaze, igniting spot fires and spreading pollution across vast regions.

The scale of 2025

However, it is human activities that are the main cause of wildfires. 2025 has demonstrated the severity of the wildfire problem, in which the risk has increased due to climate change, poses a threat globally:

• Europe: The worst season on record, with over 1 million hectares burned, which is four times the 20-year average, and releasing more than 37 million tonnes of CO₂.
• Canada: The second-worst season in history, with over 7.5 million hectares already consumed (compared to a five-year average of just over 4.1 million).
• United States:  California has suffered destructive fires, including those in Napa County, which destroyed thousands of structures and caused fatalities amid record-breaking heat. However, the overall area burned this year is less extensive than in previous U.S. wildfire seasons.
• UK: Though on a smaller scale, we’ve seen a growing number of urban wildfires (called “firewaves”). These may cover less ground but can expose residents to extremely high levels of pollution, often from a mix of plastics, fuels, and building materials.

Health impacts

We are only beginning to understand the full health toll of wildfire smoke, and the evidence suggests it is far more serious than previously thought.

A pan-European study revealed that deaths linked to wildfire pollution have been underestimated by as much as 93%. The research showed that for every slight increase in wildfire-related PM2.5, the risk of death rose by 0.7%. This points to a burden of disease that is far higher than official statistics suggest.

Meanwhile, in the US, wildfire smoke has been responsible for nearly 164,000 deaths over the past 15 years, a toll that climate change is making worse year after year. And in Los Angeles wildfires in January, while 31 fatalities were recorded, researchers estimate that the real number of excess deaths was at least 440.

AirTrack’s role: measuring, modelling, empowering

Wildfire smoke doesn’t just threaten those near the flames. Most PM2.5 exposure comes from fires dozens or even hundreds of miles away, meaning millions of people who may never see a fire line or smell smoke are still breathing in its harmful effects. This is why tracking daily personal exposure is becoming so important

At Air Aware Labs, we are enhancing our air quality models to capture the unique characteristics of wildfire smoke. While traditional models rely heavily on satellite imagery, our approach combines this with AI to pick out the finer details of how smoke travels and what people are actually exposed to.

Our platform turns this complexity into meaningful, personalised insights. From commuters to companies, we help people understand their exposure, take protective action, and ultimately safeguard health in an era of intensifying wildfires.

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