VANCOUVER - A peer-reviewed study says smoke from record-breaking Canadian wildfires in 2023 caused an estimated 5,400 acute deaths and about 82,100 premature deaths worldwide.

The study published in the journal Nature acknowledges some variation in mortality estimates depending on the methods used, but says its overall conclusion is the smoke led to an "enormous and far-reaching" health burden.

Canadian co-author Michael Brauer says the findings serve as a "wake-up call" for areas that haven't typically seen repeated or prolonged exposure to wildfire smoke, as the health impacts will only increase with worsening climate change.

The researchers used several computer models and data sources to estimate the number of deaths attributable to the particulate pollution, known as PM2.5, from C

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