Impacts of droughts on biomass burning emissions, air quality, and public health in the Amazon

Ng, Leo T. H.; Mao, Jia; Liu, Xueying; Zhai, Shixian; Fawcett, Dominic; Sitch, Stephen; Aragao, Luiz E. O. C.; Tai, Amos P. K.

doi:10.5194/acp-26-11835-2026

Articles | Volume 26, issue 16

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-11835-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-11835-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 26, issue 16

Research article

|

21 Aug 2026

Research article |

| 21 Aug 2026

Impacts of droughts on biomass burning emissions, air quality, and public health in the Amazon

Leo T. H. Ng, Jia Mao, Xueying Liu, Shixian Zhai, Dominic Fawcett, Stephen Sitch, Luiz E. O. C. Aragao, and Amos P. K. Tai

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-11835-2026-supplement

Data sets

Dataset for Impacts of Droughts on Biomass Burning Emissions, Air Quality, and Public Health in the Amazon (Version v1.0) T. H. L. NG and A. Tai https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21867210

Model code and software

Leo-NG-github/Amazon-drought-fire\_ACP: Release of Amazon-drought-fire\_ACP analysis code (Version v1.0) T. H. L. NG https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22009218

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Short summary

Wildfires in the Amazon worsen air pollution and threaten public health, yet the role of droughts in amplifying these effects is poorly understood. Using satellite data and atmospheric modeling, we assessed how droughts intensified fire emissions and pollution in the Brazilian Amazon from 2010–2015. During drought years, fires contributed up to 76 % of harmful particles and raised premature deaths by up to 24 %. These results stress the need for fire management that accounts for drought risks.