Breathing Inequality: The Unseen Burden of Wildfire Air Pollution in Vulnerable Nations

Melhim SH

DOI: Coming soon

Wildfires are no longer seasonal threats; they are now persistent, transboundary health hazards. As landscape fire-sourced (LFS) air pollution intensifies across the globe, the scale of human exposure is both staggering and uneven. While recent global estimates suggest that over 1.5 million deaths annually may be attributed to wildfire-related air pollution (Xu et al., 2024). The actual burden likely extends far beyond mortality figures. This Perspective argues that the world must expand its lens to include the chronic, cumulative, and inequitable health impacts of LFS exposure, particularly in under-monitored and climate-vulnerable regions