Scientists at the University of Edinburgh and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology have found that global wildfires contribute around 10% of the UK's particle pollution. This includes smoke from fires thousands of miles away.
Damaris Tan, from the University of Edinburgh, developed a computer simulation of global wildfires and agricultural burning. She noted that while wildfires may not impact UK air pollution as acutely as in other countries, they add to the UK population's long-term health burden, a problem likely to increase in the future.
The study revealed that large fires anywhere in the northern hemisphere could increase UK air pollution, with time lags of months possible. For instance, the effects of 2018 wildfires took over three months to become negligible to 2019 concentrations in the UK. In 2019, almost half of the UK's wildfire pollution came from fires in Russia, with contributions from both east and west via global circulation.
Dr Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, stated that recent wildfires in south-western Europe produced large quantities of smoke, significantly degrading air quality in southern France and central Spain. Cities like Bordeaux and Madrid, immediately downwind of major wildfires, experienced PM2.5 concentrations well above air quality guidelines.
Prof Mathew Heal, from the University of Edinburgh, suggested that to meet legal targets for particle pollution, the UK may need to exceed emission reductions to account for potential increases in future wildfires. Dr Eiko Nemitz, an environmental physicist and science lead on the study, added that reducing emissions from traffic, heating, industry, and agriculture could limit the secondary component of particle pollution from wildfires, which is within UK policymakers' control.