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Unprecedented smoke‐related health burden associated with the 2019–20 bushfires in eastern Australia
Author(s) -
Borchers Arriagada Nicolas,
Palmer Andrew J,
Bowman David MJS,
Morgan Geoffrey G,
Jalaludin Bin B,
Johnston Fay H
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/mja2.50545
Subject(s) - population health , air quality index , environmental health , population , public health , geography , smoke , air pollution , medicine , meteorology , ecology , nursing , biology
Weather conditions conducive to extreme bushfires are becoming more frequent as a consequence of climate change.1 Such fires have substantial social, ecological, and economic effects, including the effects on public health associated with smoke, such as premature mortality and exacerbation of cardiorespiratory conditions.2,3 During the final quarter of 2019 and the first of 2020, bushfires burned in many forested regions of Australia, and smoke affected large numbers of people in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. The scale and duration of these bushfires was unprecedented in Australia. We undertook a preliminary evaluation of the health burden attributable to air pollution generated by bushfires during this period.