Canadians increasingly suffer health effects from wildfire smoke

Wildfire smoke deaths in Canada now stand at 275%, a huge increase over the past two decades according to a new report, media reported Wednesday.

Published in The Lancelot, a leading international medical journal, the report found that there is an estimated 4,000 deaths annually in the four-year period to 2025.

That is a huge spike—there were 1,050 deaths annually from wildfire smoke for the period between 2003 and 2012, according to the report released Tuesday.

“For any individual, it might not be that [wildfire smoke] was the trigger,” he said. “But on average across the population, we’re seeing more death associated with those periods” said Ian Hamilton, co-author of the report in planetary health at the George Institute for Global Health at Imperial College in London, told CBC News.

Heat-related risks of wildfire smoke accelerated on hot days by simply going for an energetic walk.

It is particularly dangerous for young people who push through the heat, said Dr. Courtney Howard, chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance.

“Young people are almost so strong, especially athletes, that they push through heat and heat-related exhaustion,” she said.

“And unfortunately that can actually lead to mortality.”

The exacerbation of climate change has a lot to do with the problem as wildfires in Canada increase each year.

The report found that 80% of heated days were the result of fossil fuels on the climate.

“We need to know that this is going to keep getting worse year-on-year and year, unless we decrease greenhouse gas emissions,” Howard said.