Fossil fuel pollution causes 1 in 5 deaths worldwide

Half of those who died prematurely from climate change were in China and India, the rest evenly

distributed between Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan and the United States. Research results published in the journal Environmental Research.

A toxic cocktail of tiny particles emitted from the burning of oil, gas and especially coal was responsible for 20-25% of all deaths.

“We often discuss the danger of burningfossil fuels in the context of CO₂ and climate change and are oblivious to the potential health impacts, ”said study co-author Joel Schwartz, professor of environmental epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.

According to him, the opportunity to avoid millionsPremature deaths should provide a powerful additional incentive for policymakers to do whatever it takes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the global transition to green energy.

Earlier research has shown that worldwide air pollution shortens life by more than two years on average.

The worst situation is in Asia, where the averagelife expectancy fell by 4.1 years in China, 3.9 years in India and 3.8 years in Pakistan. In some regions of these countries, life expectancy is being cut in half. Compared to other causes of premature death from air pollution, 19 times more people die annually than from malaria, nine times more than from HIV / AIDS, and three times more than from alcohol.

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