Atmosphere Watch: new analysis tracks global air quality and transboundary pollution in 2026
Today, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) launched the inaugural Atmosphere Watch review to enable greater understanding of transboundary air pollution and its potential impacts on air quality in various parts of the world. The summer of 2026 was a stark reminder of these impacts in the Northern hemisphere, with extreme heat contributing to severe wildfires – and thus, smoke – as well as dangerous levels of ground-level ozone, which affected people worldwide. As climate change makes extreme events more frequent and intense, it is hard to overstate the importance of understanding links between air pollution and climate.
Based on a unique combination of millions of observations from satellites, ground-based networks, aircraft and other sources, the CAMS global forecasting system is uniquely suited to forecasting and monitoring atmospheric pollution around the world. Using these capabilities, the CAMS Atmosphere Watch offers one of the most comprehensive global pictures of the state of the atmosphere in 2026 so far, backed by compelling visualisations and charts. Crucially, it also provides a global snapshot of:
- Transboundary air pollution phenomena, including ground-level ozone, smoke from biomass burning and extreme wildfires, and desert dust transport;
- How air pollutant concentrations and air quality are shaped on every continent; and
- The impact of these events.
In the first eight months of 2026, human-caused air pollution and extreme heat combined across many regions, producing high levels of ground-level ozone. Over this period, almost two in five people across the global population were exposed to dangerous levels of the pollutant, while just 5% experienced ‘good’ levels, per the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline and targets.
Asia was the most impacted by ground-level ozone, with nine in ten people exposed to dangerous levels due, in part, to high population density and many sources of ozone precursor emissions. Meanwhile, anthropogenic and biogenic sources of these emissions and heatwaves and hemispheric transport of ozone over tens of thousands of kilometres contributed to high ground-level ozone concentrations in North America and Europe. More than two thirds of North America’s population and half of Europe’s experienced poor, very poor or extremely poor levels. By contrast, everyone in Oceania saw good or fair levels of ozone, as did over 81% of South America’s population and more than half (56%) of Africa’s, as shown in the chart above.
Some smoke plumes from wildfires in North America crossed the Atlantic and reached parts of Europe, adding to local sources of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), an air pollutant that has been linked to health issues. Over the course of 2026, Saharan dust intrusions repeatedly reached southern regions of Europe, including Spain’s Canary Islands, and crossed the North Atlantic.
When located at ground-level, ozone is harmful to human health, ecosystems and crop yields. Yet, when this air pollutant is high above the Earth’s surface in the stratosphere, it has a positive effect, protecting life against harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Ground-level ozone forms when precursor pollutants – such as nitrogen oxides and organic volatile compounds – from various sources, including transport and industry, react in sunlight under favourable weather conditions, like major heatwaves. As such, this pollutant highlights a key link between air quality and climate.
Understanding the state of our atmosphere and the movement of air pollutants within it requires a global view. CAMS Atmosphere Watch provides just that.
All data provided by CAMS, which underpins the analysis, is fully accessible and freely available, empowering researchers and supporting policymakers in making informed decisions.
The CAMS Atmosphere Watch report was introduced at a media briefing moderated by journalist Lisa Burke, with the following speakers:
- Florian Pappenberber, Director-General of ECMWF;
- Laurence Rouil Director of CAMS;
- Mauro Facchini, Head of Earth Observation, Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), European Commission;
- Dorota Jarosińska, Coordinator Air pollution and Health impacts, WHO; and
- Ian Marnane, Head of Unit Environment and Health, EEA.
You can watch the briefing here.