Heatwaves and wildfires are setting back air quality improvements, UN finds

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/07/heatwaves-wildfires-setting-back-air-quality-improvements-un-finds

WMO report details extreme weather events causing climatic feedback loop with serious health consequences

Big increases in wildfires and heatwaves supercharged by the climate crisis are hindering improvements to air quality around the world, UN experts have said.

Regions that had recorded a fall in pollution emitted by cars and industrial sites are facing new threats to air quality because of exposure to smoke from wildfires, according to a new report, while rising temperatures caused by intense heatwaves are causing a surge in ground-level ozone.

In turn, the pollution generated by these climate-linked events is itself contributing to climate breakdown, creating a feedback loop that risks dragging the world deeper into environmental catastrophe.

“Air quality and climate cannot be treated as separate subjects; they are deeply intertwined and have to be treated together,” said Lorenzo Labrador, a scientific officer of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which issued the report.

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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/07/heatwaves-wildfires-setting-back-air-quality-improvements-un-finds