A new study this week from Harvard and several other universities estimates that air pollution from burning of fossil fuels contributed to almost 9 million excess deaths in 2018—a shocking 1 in 5 deaths occurring. The areas with the most deaths include China, India, Eastern North America and Western Europe.
These figures are more than double previous estimates. The research team used newer methods that allowed them to separate particulate (PM) air pollution made by fossil fuels from naturally occurring PM air pollution. They also used newer, better information about health impacts from air pollution. As a result, air pollution causes more deaths than other common problems like malaria and tobacco. Air pollution is so dangerous because it causes or exacerbates medical conditions like heart and lung disease.
The authors emphasized that this is an “overlooked health consequence” of fossil fuel emissions—and it is important to remember that this is just one of the many impacts of climate change. In doing so, they hope to send a message to policymakers and those in positions of power about the stakes of continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Table 1 shows that PM2.5 from fossil fuels cause 13.1% of all deaths in the U.S.
Read a news article about the study.
02/10/2021
