Wildfires, heatwaves threaten global air quality and health, UN warns

A man rides a scooter beneath a smoke-filled sky as a wildfire burns in Deliblatska Pescara, some 70 kilometres northeast of Belgrade, Serbia, on August 20, 2026. © Uros Arsic, AFP

Wildfires and heatwaves are threatening global efforts to improve air quality and protect human health, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Monday. The UN agency warned that increasingly severe fires are raising exposure to toxic PM2.5 pollution, even as regulations have reduced industrial and transport emissions in Europe and North America.

Wildfires and heatwaves, which generate microscopic airborne pollutants, risk undermining international efforts to improve air quality, protect human health and safeguard nature, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Monday.