Deforested areas were observed in Eastern Siberia in June 2006.
16:14 JST, June 16, 2024
A team of researchers has said that at least 20,000 more people in Japan will die each year from air pollution if large-scale forest fires occur in Siberia.
The results of the study by a team from Hokkaido University, the University of Tokyo and others, published in the scientific journal Earth’s Future, indicate the need for multinational efforts to prevent forest fires.
In 2003, approximately 20 million hectares of forest were burned in Siberia, equivalent to more than half of Japan’s land area. The research team used the results of these wildfires to estimate the amount of health and other problems caused by air pollution.
The study results showed that the hypothetical outbreak of large-scale forest fires that produced twice as much air pollutants such as particulate matter (known as PM2.5) as in 2003 could cause at least 20,000 more deaths per year in Japan than in 2003. in one year with few forest fires.
“It shows that Japan is not immune to ‘transboundary air pollution’ caused by forest fires,” said Teppei Yasunari, associate professor of atmospheric and environmental sciences at Hokkaido University.
The increasing frequency and size of forest fires due to global warming and other factors have become a global trend. Last year, forest fires in Canada caused air pollution in New York.
“It’s a new study that takes a new approach to research,” said Keiji Kushida, a professor of global environmental studies at Nihon University. “If this type of analysis is applied to other wildfires and other conditions, it will lead to more meaningful results.”
