Unprecedented health costs of smoke-related PM2.5 from the 2019–20 Australian megafires

Fay H. Johnston (), Nicolas Borchers-Arriagada, Geoffrey G. Morgan, Bin Jalaludin, Andrew J. Palmer, Grant J. Williamson and David M. J. S. Bowman
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Fay H. Johnston: University of Tasmania
Nicolas Borchers-Arriagada: University of Tasmania
Geoffrey G. Morgan: University of Sydney
Bin Jalaludin: University of New South Wales
Andrew J. Palmer: University of Tasmania
Grant J. Williamson: University of Tasmania
David M. J. S. Bowman: University of Tasmania

Nature Sustainability, 2021, vol. 4, issue 1, 42-47

Abstract: Abstract In flammable landscapes around the globe, longer fire seasons with larger, more severely burnt areas are causing social and economic impacts that are unsustainable. The Australian 2019–20 fire season is emblematic of this trend, burning over 8 million ha of predominately Eucalyptus forests over a six-month period. We calculated the wildfire-smoke-related health burden and costs in Australia for the most recent 20 fire seasons and found that the 2019–20 season was a major anomaly in the recent record, with smoke-related health costs of AU$1.95 billion. These were driven largely by an estimated 429 smoke-related premature deaths in addition to 3,230 hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory disorders and 1,523 emergency attendances for asthma. The total cost was well above the next highest estimate of AU$566 million in 2002–03 and more than nine times the median annual wildfire associated costs for the previous 19 years of AU$211 million. There are substantial economic costs attributable to wildfire smoke and the potential for dramatic increases in this burden as the frequency and intensity of wildfires increase with a hotter climate.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-00610-5

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