The largest contributor to air pollution is fossil fuel use, a new study shows. Without these emissions, the global average life expectancy would increase by more than a year. Credit: Milos Miskov/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Pollution, primarily from fossil fuels, was linked to more premature deaths than smoking, HIV/AIDS, malaria and even war, the researchers found.
Air pollution, mainly from burning fossil fuels, reduces life expectancy worldwide by an average of almost three years, an impact greater than smoking, HIV/AIDS, vector-borne diseases such as malaria, and violence, according to a new study in Cardiovascular Research.Relying on recent modeling methods developed by a separate team of researchers, the study, published on Tuesday, examined global mortality data from 2015 and estimated that air pollution led to 8.8 million premature deaths. That translates to an average shortening of people's lives by 2.9 years, the study concluded. Residents of East Asia experienced the largest curtailment of life expectancy, by 3.9 years, according to the study, and people living in Australia the least damage, or 0.8 years lost. In North America, lives were shortened by 1.4 years on average because of air pollution.
By comparison, smoking, one of the leading causes of death worldwide, was responsible for about 7.2 million premature deaths in 2015, and shortened lives by an average of 2.2 years, the researchers found. The study estimated that HIV/AIDS reduced life expectancy by 0.7 years, and diseases such as malaria, transmitted by parasites and insects, by 0.6 years. War and violence cut life expectancy by an estimated 0.3 years, according to the study.
Read More At Inside Climate News
Related Books
Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities
by Peter Plastrik , John Cleveland
The future of our cities is not what it used to be. The modern-city model that took hold globally in the twentieth century has outlived its usefulness. It cannot solve the problems it helped to create—especially global warming. Fortunately, a new model for urban development is emerging in cities to aggressively tackle the realities of climate change. It transforms the way cities design and use physical space, generate economic wealth, consume and dispose of resources, exploit and sustain the natural ecosystems, and prepare for the future. Available On Amazon
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
by Elizabeth Kolbert
Over the last half-billion years, there have been Five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human. Available On Amazon
Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats
by Gwynne Dyer
Waves of climate refugees. Dozens of failed states. All-out war. From one of the world’s great geopolitical analysts comes a terrifying glimpse of the strategic realities of the near future, when climate change drives the world’s powers towards the cut-throat politics of survival. Prescient and unflinching, Climate Wars will be one of the most important books of the coming years. Read it and find out what we’re heading for. Available On Amazon
From The Publisher:
Purchases on Amazon go to defray the cost of bringing you InnerSelf.comelf.com, MightyNatural.com, and ClimateImpactNews.com at no cost and without advertisers that track your browsing habits. Even if you click on a link but don't buy these selected products, anything else you buy in that same visit on Amazon pays us a small commission. There is no additional cost to you, so please contribute to the effort. You can also use this link to use to Amazon at any time so you can help support our efforts.
