THE IMPACT OF WILDFIRE ON AIR QUALITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN NORTHEN NIGERIA

Abstract

In Nigeria, wildfires are widely recognized as a major contributor to air pollution. Moreover, the adverse health effects associated with exposure to wildfire smoke produce public health and clinical challenges. This report aims to examine the following research questions by conducting a literature review and a case study analysis in four Nigeria states: Kano, Katsina, Jigawa,. What are the effects of wildfires on air quality and public health? What efforts are states making to mitigate air quality pollutants from wildfires and reduce public exposure to air quality pollutants from wildfires? The findings conclude that among wildfire pollutants, particulate matter (PM2.5) which are tiny particles or droplets in the air that are two and one half microns in width is considered the most harmful to health because it can affect heart and lung function and lead to serious health effects. A positive association exists between exposure to wildfire smoke and wildfire particulate matter PM2.5 and mortality and respiratory morbidity. Respiratory morbidity includes asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis and pneumonia. We also found that for the three wildfires in each state we researched, the average change in air quality index (AQI) and PM2.5 in Kano and Katsina were significant, whereas, these changes in Jigawa and Texas were not significant as expected. However, the lower changes in AQI and PM2.5 in Jigawa and Texas might be misleading due to limited data availability. Moreover, by observing the real-time air quality monitoring website https://airnow.gov, we found that within few days wildfire smoke can travel hundreds of miles away from the fire itself. There are four major indicators that determine how significantly and how rapidly smoke will be dispersed: the atmospheric stability, mixing height, terrain, and transport wind.In terms of states’ efforts, all four states studied are making efforts to monitor air quality, provide access to air quality and wildfire information, and educate the public to protect themselves from wildfire smoke exposure. In other words, state agencies are focused on reducing the public’s exposure to the pollutants. Because the pollutants of wildfires (namely PM2.5) come from various sources in addition to wildfires, by implementing these strategies, relevant agencies are not necessarily targeting wildfire air pollution but overall air pollution from any cause. To mitigate wildfire pollution specifically, it is the responsibility of fire departments to forecast, suppress, and mitigate the occurrences of wildfires. Some fire departments show concern over air pollution from wildfires and partner with other agencies but, more often, mitigating air pollutants is not their priority because their goal is extinguishing wildfires as soon as possible.