Search for: All records

Abstract Globally, solid biofuels (SB) have been widely used for household cooking and energy production for decades due to electricity shortages and socio‐economic barriers to adopting renewable energy alternatives. This has detrimental effects on air quality, human health, and climate through trace gas and aerosol emissions. Despite numerous studies, the long‐term consequences of SB emissions remain poorly understood. Here, we use the Community Earth System Model and the Community Emissions Data System emission inventory to investigate the SB emission impacts on air quality and human health for 2000–2019. Global SB emission increased the ambient PM_2.5(particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters 2.5 μm) and ozone (O₃) concentrations up to 23.61 /m³and 13.69 ppbv, with significant effects found in India, China, and the Rest of Asia (ROA). Our study estimates total annual premature deaths (APDs) associated with global SB‐attributable PM_2.5and O₃exposure as 1.11 million [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.00–1.22 million] in 2000 up to 1.43 million (95% CI: 1.30–1.56 million) in 2019. China's SB emissions and associated APDs have reduced substantially, whereas India and ROA had a major leap in both estimates in 2019 compared to 2000. China's progress in cutting residential SB emissions accounts for its improvements. Our study urges the reduction of SB usage and emissions to potentially improve overall air quality and human health conditions, especially in highly populated, low‐ and middle‐income countries, where the poor air quality and associated health burden attributable to SB emissions are estimated to be higher. 

Fires in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) are a global issue with growing importance. However, the impact of WUI fires on air quality and health is less understood compared to that of fires in wildland. We analyze WUI fire impacts on air quality and health at the global scale using a multi-scale atmospheric chemistry model—the Multi-Scale Infrastructure for Chemistry and Aerosols model (MUSICA). WUI fires have notable impacts on key air pollutants [e.g., carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), and ozone (O₃)]. The health impact of WUI fire emission is disproportionately large compared to wildland fires primarily because WUI fires are closer to human settlement. Globally, the fraction of WUI fire–caused annual premature deaths (APDs) to all fire–caused APDs is about three times of the fraction of WUI fire emissions to all fire emissions. The developed model framework can be applied to address critical needs in understanding and mitigating WUI fires and their impacts.