Improving air quality – a ‘win-win’ for climate and health
Source: https://sustainabilitymag.com/sustainability/improving-air-quality-a-win-win-for-climate-and-health
Author: Becci Knowles
Research from Harvard University, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester and University College London, revealed that more than 8 million people died in 2018 from fossil fuel pollution, significantly higher than previous research suggested – meaning that air pollution from burning fossil fuels like coal and diesel was responsible for about 1 in 5 deaths worldwide. The study, ‘Global Mortality From Outdoor Fine Particle Pollution Generated by Fossil Fuel Combustion’, published in Environmental Research, was said to be based on “groundbreaking analysis” that enabled the researchers to directly attribute premature deaths from fine particulate pollution (PM 2.5) to fossil fuel combustion. According to the latest WHO Air Quality Database, a record number of over 6000 cities in 117 countries are now monitoring air quality, but the people living in them are still breathing unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, with those in low and middle-income countries suffering the highest exposures.