Canada's 2023 wildfires contributed to 87,000 early deaths worldwide, study estimates

Property and homes razed by a wildfire in Celista, British Columbia, Canada, on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. Record-breaking wildfires in Canada, which have already scorched an area larger than Greece, are heading toward key population centers, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate.

Over 87,000 premature deaths worldwide can be traced to the impact of Canada's explosive 2023 wildfire season, new research estimates.

Fires burned 71,043 square miles (18.4 million hectares) of Canadian forest that year, about 5% of the total forest in the country. The smoke plumes from the fires heavily impacted the U.S. Northeast and Midwest, and they even wafted across the Atlantic to Europe and northern Africa.