Air Pollution Still Killing Millions Worldwide

So for this study, Lelieveld’s team combined a global atmospheric chemistry model with population data and health statistics to estimate the relative contribution of different kinds of outdoor air pollution, mainly from so-called fine particulate matter, to premature deaths.

In India and China, air pollution takes the greatest toll on human lives.

Of course, it is quite important to recognize that air pollution is not a singular “cause”. Ammonia from livestock and fertilizer cause the formation of ammonium nitrate and sulfate particles, which contribute to air pollution.

The remaining sources, in places like the Western and Central United States, comes from power generation and traffic.

Worldwide agriculture accounts for one-fifth of all air-pollution-related premature deaths. The US, with 54,905 deaths in 2010 from soot and smog, ranks seventh highest for air pollution deaths.

Jos Lelieveld, Director of the Atmospheric Chemistry Department at the Institute, said Australia has comparatively better air quality compared to other continents.

They recommended countries switch to cleaner fuels or electricity.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the scientists from NYU Langone Medical Center estimated that risks of death for people with cardiovascular diseases increase to 10 percent and 27 percent for nonsmokers.

The authors said the study was the largest of its kind, involving a survey of a half million Americans.

The air we breathe outdoors could be harming more people than ever, a new study suggests. “Our study is particularly notable because all the data used in our analysis comes from government- and independently held sources”.

And that number is set to rise in the next 35 years – if worldwide emissions continue unabated, the number of deaths caused by air pollution each year could double to 6.6 million by 2050.

China records the highest premature deaths by indoor and outdoor pollution at 1.36 million, followed by India with 645,000 and Pakistan with 111,000.

However, the researchers say that the main sources of air pollution in these countries are heating and cooking as most homes and institutions in these parts of the world still rely heavily on wood, cow dung, or other biomass. Particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter-known as PM2.5-has lead to over 3.2 million premature deaths globally, scientists said.

“It will be a win-win situation in both directions”, he said. Air pollution can kill in a wide variety of ways. He published a commentary on the study in Nature. It found that reducing forest fires – a key source of haze in Southeast Asia – could help.