https://www.futurity.org/global-air-pollution-health-risk-2969072/
"If the world were to permanently reduce fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) to
meet the World Health Organization’s guideline, the average person would add
2.3 years to their life expectancy—or a combined 17.8 billion life-years saved
worldwide.
This data makes clear that particulate pollution remains the world’s greatest
external risk to human health, with the impact on life expectancy comparable to
that of smoking, more than three times that of alcohol use and unsafe water,
and more than five times that of transport injuries like car crashes. Yet the
pollution challenge worldwide is vastly unequal.
“Three-quarters of air pollution’s impact on global life expectancy occurs in
just six countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria, and Indonesia,
where people lose one to more than six years off their lives because of the air
they breathe,” says Michael Greenstone, a professor in economics at the
University of Chicago and the creator of the AQLI along with colleagues at the
Energy Policy Institute at Chicago.
Many polluted places lack basic air pollution infrastructure. Asia and Africa
are the two most poignant examples. They contribute 92.7% of life years lost
due to pollution. Only 6.8 and 3.7% of governments in Asia and Africa,
respectively, provide their citizens with fully open air quality data. Further,
just 35.6 and 4.9% of countries in Asia and Africa, respectively, have air
quality standards—the most basic building block for policies.
The collective current investments in global air quality infrastructure also do
not match where air pollution is having its greatest toll on human life.
While there is a large global fund for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis that
annually disburses $4 billion toward the issues, there is no equivalent set of
coordinated resources for air pollution. In fact, the entire continent of
Africa receives under $300,000 in philanthropic funds toward air pollution.
Just $1.4 million goes to Asia, outside of China and India. Europe, the United
States, and Canada, meanwhile, receive $34 million, according to the Clean Air
Fund."
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
