ECHOES OF THE LAST MIND

ORIGIN: https://www.yourweather.co.uk/news/

A fresh global analysis into wildfires suggests they release around 21% more pollution-forming gases than originally thought, helping smoke hang around longer and turn into harmful fine particles people breathe

Researchers have found wildfire emissions have been seriously undercounted, with overlooked gases helping smoke stick around longer and turn into the fine particles that hit health hardest.

Wildfire smoke is not just a bit of haze – it can hang around for days, creep into cities, and leave air quality readings looking grim long after the flames have moved on.

Well, fresh research argues there’s a solid reason for that lingering nastiness. Researchers have found we’ve likely been under-counting what wildland fires release into the air, meaning the pollution punch from wildfires and prescribed burns has been stronger than many past estimates suggested.

The missing gases

The research, led by a team at the American Chemical Society, pulls together a global picture of wild land fires from 1997 to 2023 using a database of burned land across forests, grasslands and peatlands.

The scientists layered in what different vegetation types