Air Pollution would kill more than 6 million prematurely every year by 2050

It is a known fact that the air we breathe is degrading every day. A new study reveals that the situation is even worse than was previously thought. According to this study, the air we breathe outdoors could be harming more people than ever. According to the World Health Organization, more than 3 million people die prematurely each year from prolonged exposure to air pollution. With this study the researchers have dug deep into the effects air pollution will cause to humankind in the coming years. The study revealed that by 2050, the number of premature deaths could rise up to 6.6 million worldwide.

WHO has said that prolonged exposure to polluted air contributes to the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer. The author of the study, Jos Lelieveld, a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany and lead author of the study said,” The total number of deaths due to HIV and malaria is 2.8 million per year. That’s half a million less than the number of people who die due to air pollution globally. When people think of outdoor air pollution, they tend to think of traffic and industry having the largest impact on global premature mortality, not residential energy emissions and agriculture.” Residential energy emissions from fuels used for cooking and heating, especially in India and China had the largest impact on the deaths worldwide.

The study examined outdoor emission sources in urban and rural environments: residential and commercial energy use, agriculture, power generation, and industry and land traffic. After linking air pollution data with country-specific population and health statistics from WHO, the researchers were able to measure the effect different sources of outdoor air pollution had on premature deaths. According to the study, in the Middle-East, North Africa and Central Asia, natural sources of air pollution, such as desert storm dust, were the dominant contributors of deaths.

To get a global view of the problems, the researchers developed atmospheric-chemistry models that collected both ground and satellite measurements .They used those calculations of fine particle matter in air pollution over time and from different emission sources around the world. Lelieveld said that air pollution solution should be implemented on a country-to-country basis. In the United States and Europe, it could be most beneficial to take measures to lessen the impacts of agricultural emissions. In Asia, implementing better control over burning sources and upgrading to new technology would go a long way.

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