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Wildfire smoke has been found to be harmful to certain immune cells in the lungs, with a toxicity four times greater than particulates from other types of pollution.Research has linked airborne pollution such as PM2.5 to obesity.Other studies have suggested that another type of understudied air pollution, airborne microplastics, could also be disrupting the hormones that regulate our metabolism.One major analysis estimated that a fifth of the global burden of type 2 diabetes could be attributed to exposure to PM2.5 pollution.Nonetheless, researchers are increasingly concerned about the effect that air pollution may be having on our brains, as Melissa Hogenboom explains in this feature, where you can learn more about the emerging evidence.It has been linked to impaired judgement, poorer performance in school and even higher levels of crime.Researchers point to prolonged exposure to pollutants such as PM2.5.These are areas also afflicted by other problems that affect health, educational achievement and crime levels.Air pollution and weight gain While the exact mechanism is still debated, it is thought that the inflammation caused by air pollution may also affect the body's metabolism.

Wildfire smoke has been found to be harmful to certain immune cells in the lungs, with a toxicity four times greater than particulates from other types of pollution.Research has linked airborne pollution such as PM2.5 to obesity.Other studies have suggested that another type of understudied air pollution, airborne microplastics, could also be disrupting the hormones that regulate our metabolism.One major analysis estimated that a fifth of the global burden of type 2 diabetes could be attributed to exposure to PM2.5 pollution.Nonetheless, researchers are increasingly concerned about the effect that air pollution may be having on our brains, as Melissa Hogenboom explains in this feature, where you can learn more about the emerging evidence.It has been linked to impaired judgement, poorer performance in school and even higher levels of crime.Researchers point to prolonged exposure to pollutants such as PM2.5.These are areas also afflicted by other problems that affect health, educational achievement and crime levels.Air pollution and weight gain
While the exact mechanism is still debated, it is thought that the inflammation caused by air pollution may also affect the body's metabolism.

Air pollution is harming our sense of smell
Exposure to toxic air may also be eroding our olfaction. A 2021 study found that people who suffered from loss of smell, known as anosmia, in Baltimore, Maryland lived in areas with "significantly high" levels of PM2.5.Learn more about Cape Grim in this feature by Dani Wright and find out more about how the air around Ny-Alesund is changing in this feature by Anna Filipova.Cape Grim, or Kennaook, where winds whip across the Southern Ocean unimpeded.The worst days of air pollution ("hazardous" or maroon, under the EPA's system) are expected to rise by 27%. Wildfire smoke is one of the factors driving this trend. One study of PM2.5 (see fact box: What is PM2.5?) from wildfire smoke found that levels had increased by up to 5 micrograms per cubic metre in the western US in the past decade - enough to reverse "decades of policy-driven improvements in overall air quality", the authors concluded."Even if someone is far away from a fire source, they may still experience adverse health outcomes from the inhalation of highly diluted and oxidised smoke," Athanasios Nenes, an atmospheric chemist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne told Allison Hirschlag for BBC Future.Anosmia disproportionately affects older people.--