Climate Attribution of Wildfire Smoke Impacts on Priority Population Health in Southeast Asia and Australia (CANBREATHE)

Climate change is increasing the frequency, intensity and duration of extreme wildfires and smoke haze pollution in Southeast Asia and Australia, exacerbating respiratory and cardiovascular illness, and contributing to thousands of premature deaths. Severe smoke haze from wildfires in Sumatra, Indonesia in 2015 resulted in around 100,000 excess deaths. In Australia, smoke from the 2019/20 Black Summer wildfires was associated with 417 deaths. Although current impact estimates highlight the public health challenge posed by wildfires, they do not specifically attribute the impacts of wildfire smoke to climate change. Nor do they specifically focus on sensitive population groups disproportionally affected by climate change. This project aims to use climate attribution modelling and storylines to assess the influence of climate change on the risk and characteristics of extreme wildfires and related smoke haze exposure, and on the health of Indigenous people, pregnant women and children in five heavily affected regions of Southeast Asia and Australia. The project engages policymakers, Indigenous peoples and communities, citizen scientists and artists in the participatory co-design of innovative communication tools based on climate attribution science, health impact data, and the culture and lived experiences of communities suffering extreme or recurrent wildfires in Thailand, Laos, Indonesia and Australia.