Reacción a "Extreme heat and air pollution expose nearly 40 per cent of the world’s population to dangerous levels of tropospheric ozone"

The report Air pollution knows no borders: what 2026 tells us about ozone, wildfire smoke and dust plumes provides an insight into recent trends in global air quality, focusing on three main topics – tropospheric ozone, wildfire smoke and dust – which are highly relevant to Europe and Spain.

This is a high-quality report, presenting findings based on open data, forecasts and analyses carried out by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). The study combines satellite observations, atmospheric models and forecasts, and stands out for its ability to assess recent data on a large scale and to link a wide range of pollutants (more than 50 species), meteorology and long-range atmospheric transport. Furthermore, the report links directly to online tools and visualisers that allow users to interact with the data and results presented. As regards the results, in Europe, the report highlights that emission reduction policies have helped to lower concentrations of particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide, whilst tropospheric ozone remains a persistent problem, exacerbated by heatwaves. In Spain, the report highlights the significance of the fires in Ávila and Madrid, associated with exceptional emissions of carbon dioxide and fine particulate matter, as well as the recurring occurrence of Saharan dust, particularly in the Canary Islands, on the Iberian Peninsula and in the Mediterranean.

A key limitation is that estimates derived from satellites and models are subject to uncertainties and need to be supplemented with observational data from local monitoring networks. Nevertheless, their findings are highly significant, with clear implications for public health. On the one hand, in terms of management measures, they support the development and improvement of early-warning systems, the special protection of vulnerable groups and coordinated fire prevention policies. On the other hand, they highlight the need to tackle sources of ozone precursor emissions, such as road traffic, and to adapt to climate change.