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Premature Deaths in Brazil Associated With Long‐Term Exposure to PM(2.5) From Amazon Fires Between 2016 and 2019

Amazonian deforestation from slash‐and‐burn practices is a significant contributor to biomass burning within Brazil. Fires emit carbonaceous aerosols that negatively impact human health by increasing fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) exposure. These negative effects on health compound the already de...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nawaz, M. O., Henze, D. K.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7442537/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32864540
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020GH000268
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author Nawaz, M. O.
Henze, D. K.
author_facet Nawaz, M. O.
Henze, D. K.
author_sort Nawaz, M. O.
collection PubMed
description Amazonian deforestation from slash‐and‐burn practices is a significant contributor to biomass burning within Brazil. Fires emit carbonaceous aerosols that negatively impact human health by increasing fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) exposure. These negative effects on health compound the already detrimental climatological and ecological impacts. Despite high biomass burning emissions in Brazil and the international attention drawn by the relaxation of Amazon protections in 2019, little is known about the health impacts from PM(2.5) exposure attributable to these fires. We estimate PM(2.5)‐related premature deaths in Brazil associated with biomass burning, focusing on temporal, interannual, and spatial trends. We find that during the fire season of 2019, 4,966 (2,427, 8,340) premature deaths were attributable to fire emissions making up 10% (5, 17) of all PM(2.5)‐related premature deaths in Brazil. Between the 2019 and 2018 seasons, fire emissions increased by 1.37 Tg (1.00, 2.18) or 115% (60, 201), which was responsible for an increase in health impacts of 2,109 (965, 3,623) premature deaths or 74% (54, 98). Biomass burning emissions throughout Brazil contribute significantly to premature deaths, with the largest burning events occurring in northwestern Brazil. The impact of fires on PM(2.5)‐related premature deaths is highest in heavily populated regions despite their fires being 1 to 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the largest burning events. Results from this study characterize the extent to which elevated PM(2.5) exposure levels owing to fires affect public health in Brazil and present an additional, public health‐focused, support for increased Amazon protections.
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spelling pubmed-74425372020-08-28 Premature Deaths in Brazil Associated With Long‐Term Exposure to PM(2.5) From Amazon Fires Between 2016 and 2019 Nawaz, M. O. Henze, D. K. Geohealth Research Articles Amazonian deforestation from slash‐and‐burn practices is a significant contributor to biomass burning within Brazil. Fires emit carbonaceous aerosols that negatively impact human health by increasing fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) exposure. These negative effects on health compound the already detrimental climatological and ecological impacts. Despite high biomass burning emissions in Brazil and the international attention drawn by the relaxation of Amazon protections in 2019, little is known about the health impacts from PM(2.5) exposure attributable to these fires. We estimate PM(2.5)‐related premature deaths in Brazil associated with biomass burning, focusing on temporal, interannual, and spatial trends. We find that during the fire season of 2019, 4,966 (2,427, 8,340) premature deaths were attributable to fire emissions making up 10% (5, 17) of all PM(2.5)‐related premature deaths in Brazil. Between the 2019 and 2018 seasons, fire emissions increased by 1.37 Tg (1.00, 2.18) or 115% (60, 201), which was responsible for an increase in health impacts of 2,109 (965, 3,623) premature deaths or 74% (54, 98). Biomass burning emissions throughout Brazil contribute significantly to premature deaths, with the largest burning events occurring in northwestern Brazil. The impact of fires on PM(2.5)‐related premature deaths is highest in heavily populated regions despite their fires being 1 to 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the largest burning events. Results from this study characterize the extent to which elevated PM(2.5) exposure levels owing to fires affect public health in Brazil and present an additional, public health‐focused, support for increased Amazon protections. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2020-08-01 /pmc/articles/PMC7442537/ /pubmed/32864540 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020GH000268 Text en ©2020. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Nawaz, M. O.
Henze, D. K.
Premature Deaths in Brazil Associated With Long‐Term Exposure to PM(2.5) From Amazon Fires Between 2016 and 2019
title Premature Deaths in Brazil Associated With Long‐Term Exposure to PM(2.5) From Amazon Fires Between 2016 and 2019
title_full Premature Deaths in Brazil Associated With Long‐Term Exposure to PM(2.5) From Amazon Fires Between 2016 and 2019
title_fullStr Premature Deaths in Brazil Associated With Long‐Term Exposure to PM(2.5) From Amazon Fires Between 2016 and 2019
title_full_unstemmed Premature Deaths in Brazil Associated With Long‐Term Exposure to PM(2.5) From Amazon Fires Between 2016 and 2019
title_short Premature Deaths in Brazil Associated With Long‐Term Exposure to PM(2.5) From Amazon Fires Between 2016 and 2019
title_sort premature deaths in brazil associated with long‐term exposure to pm(2.5) from amazon fires between 2016 and 2019
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7442537/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32864540
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2020GH000268
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