The Hollywood Fires Will Cause Harm Long After They Burn Out

A stealthy cloud of pollution seeping into people's lungs will be felt for years to come.

- David Fickling

What could be more terrifying than a wall of flames sweeping through the suburbs of Los Angeles? The stealthy cloud of pollution seeping into people's lungs many kilometers from the conflagration which will be causing harm long after the last ember burns out.

Burning palm trees and multimillion-dollar mansions turned into ash make an unforgettable symbol of the damage climate change is wreaking. An even greater toll, however, will be counted in lives cut short not by the violence of a wildfire, but by the slow poisoning unleashed by its flames.

Particulates permeate the air we breathe, whether in cities or the countryside. The ones known as PM10 are about one-tenth the width of a human hair and can penetrate deep into our lungs, where they cause cancer and heart disease. PM2.5 is four times smaller still, and can make it into the bloodstream—and from there, almost every tissue in the human body.

Their effect on human life will endure much longer than the fire itself. About 1,890 people were killed globally in wildfires between 2000 and 2023, with the worst tolls in places similar to the California neighborhoods currently fighting back the flames: Southern Europe, North America, Australia. Every year, however, nearly 100,000 people die from inhaling PM2.5 released by such disasters, with the worst effects in less affluent corners of Central America, South-east Asia and Southern Africa.