Air pollution causes 1 in 8 deaths. It is the single biggest environmental health crisis we face: World Health Organization
Every year, almost 7 million deaths worldwide are caused by air pollution. Tweet This! In fact, although we do not see it, air pollution causes some of the most common illnesses. It is responsible for:
- 36 per cent of deaths from lung cancer
- 35 per cent of deaths from COPD (Pulmonary disease)
- 34 per cent of deaths from stroke
- 27 per cent of deaths from heart disease
Outdoor pollution is responsible for over 3 million premature deaths each year. It is caused by:
- vehicles
- power plants
- waste burning
- landfill emissions
- livestock production
Indoor pollution is responsible for over 4.3 million premature deaths each year. It is caused by:
- dirty cookstoves
- unprocessed coal
- kerosene and diesel fuels
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) identified and propose solutions to air pollution, which include:
- sustainable transport
- reducing industrial emissions
- managing solid waste
- clean cookstoves and fuels
- solar lighting and electricity
- renewable power
- energy efficient homes
Most importantly, cities around the globe that have taken steps to reduce air pollution are seeing results: over one in three monitored cities in low- to middle-income countries and over one in two in high-income countries reduced their air pollution levels by 5 per cent during the last 5 years.
References:
This article is based on published information by the WHO. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
http://www.who.int/sustainable-development/news-events/breath-life/en/