Air pollution is costing humanity 17 billion years of life.
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| [Air pollution] |
According to a new research from experts, polluted air is a far more severe killer than smoking, automobile accidents, or AIDS, with coal burning as the primary culprit. According to the research, air pollution has been claiming the lives of billions of people for decades.
Professor Michael Greenstone of the University of Chicago says, "Air pollution is the greatest external threat to human health on the planet, and it is not widely recognized or recognized with the strength and vigor one would expect."
Professor Greenstone and his colleagues created the Air Quality for Living Index (AQLI), which translates levels of air pollution into their impact on life expectancy.
According to Greenstone, with today's levels of air pollution, the average person of the globe loses 2.2 years of life, amounting to 17 billion wasted years of human life if nothing is done.
“Moreover, we don't just allow it to happen; we actively contribute to it,” the professor adds.
In many nations, he added, pollution has been decreased by switching to greener energy and increasing air quality safeguards at existing power plants.
The burning of coal, according to the experts, is the world's leading cause of air pollution, with India bearing the brunt of it: the typical resident dies six years sooner, he wrote in The Guardian. Despite the fact that China has reduced air pollution over the last seven years, filthy air continues to reduce inhabitants' life expectancy by 2.6 years.
Burning fossil fuels causes pollution and a climate crisis, but countries are much better at reducing pollution within their own borders. According to scientists, the climate issue is currently boosting air pollution, which is causing wildfires, ending a vicious loop.
Recent occurrences, according to the experts, have demonstrated multiple conceivable futures depending on whether governments intervene or not. While wildfires in the western United States have produced significant pollution on the opposite side of the North American continent in New York City, the coronavirus lockdown has reduced pollution by allowing some Indian city dwellers to see the Himalayas.
The research calculates how many more years individuals would live if their country's air pollution levels were decreased to World Health Organization standards. In India, the average is 5.9 years, with 480 million people breathing filthy air in the north, which is 10 times greater than anyplace else on the planet, according to experts. Reducing pollution will add 5.4 years to people's lives in Bangladesh and Nepal, and 3.9 years to people's lives in Pakistan.
According to the research, the impact of particulate matter pollution on life expectancy in Central and West Africa is equivalent to that of HIV/AIDS and malaria, but it has gotten far less attention. In the Niger Delta, for example, the typical individual loses over six years of their life.
In 2013, China started a "war on pollution" which resulted in a 29 percent reduction in pollution levels. According to experts, this boosts life expectancy by 1.5 years on average, if the reductions persist, and indicates that rapid change is feasible.
In 2013, China started a "war on pollution" which resulted in a 29 percent reduction in pollution levels. According to experts, this boosts life expectancy by 1.5 years on average, if the reductions persist, and indicates that rapid change is feasible.
Professor Greenstone stated, "Coal is the source of the problem in most parts of the world." "If health costs were embedded in prices, coal would become uncompetitive in almost all parts of the world."
Because fossil gas is much less polluting than coal, Japan said in June that it will provide $ 10 billion in funding to Southeast Asian energy decarbonization projects, including gas-fired power stations. However, gas flaring continues to contribute to global warming. "Let's be clear that gas is not an alternative to coal and is not a transitional fuel." Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief, stated recently.
The AQLI report is based on a research that compared mortality rates for persons living in more and less polluted areas, with heart and lung disease being the leading cause of death.