Geophysical Research Letters · 28 October 2026 · From issue 59
Important but Overlooked Reactive Organic Carbon (ROC) Air Pollution From Permafrost Wildfires in Canada
In Canada's 2023 fires, small gas emissions caused large spikes in toxic air pollution.
Xueying Liu, Zejiang Yu et al.
Permafrost wildfires in Canada burn both surface plants and deep soil. This releases gases that are a small part of the smoke, but they still make air pollution worse. During the record 2023 fire season, these gases raised levels of toxic chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde. They also helped create most of the extreme smog measured that year.
The amount of gas emissions from 2023 Canadian wildfires that still drove most of the record smog.
Model and inventory based estimates, not direct human health measurements.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 30 October 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Geophysical Research Letters). Read the source
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