One in five deaths worldwide can be attributed to air pollution from fossil fuels, according to studies

The Paper's trainee reporter Wang Zhuoyi

A recent study found that more than 8 million people worldwide die each year as a result of inhaling polluted air containing fossil fuel particles.

CNN reported on the 9th that the study was completed by Harvard University in cooperation with the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester, and University College London, and was published in the journal Environmental Research on the same day, and its most interesting research results were found to account for 18% of the global deaths due to inhalation of fossil fuel emission pollutants in 2018, nearly one-fifth of the global death population. The researchers also found that if there were high levels of long-term air pollution in an area, the mortality rate of COVID-19 patients in the region would also be higher.

The 18 percent ratio is much higher than previously anticipated, after scientists estimated that only 4.2 million people die each year from inhalation of outdoor air pollutants in 2019, including deaths from dust and smoke pollution from agroforestry fires. New research suggests that fossil fuel emissions alone killed about 8.7 million people as early as 2018.

The Daily Mail reported that it compared fossil fuel pollution with other causes of death: globalized fossil fuels cause 19 times more deaths each year than malaria and 9 times more than AIDS.

The Huffington Post reported on the 10th that the most concentrated areas of fossil fuel-related deaths are some large cities with large populations, where internal combustion vehicles, buildings that heat through fossil fuels, and huge power plants abound.

Eloise Marais, an associate professor of physical geography at University College London and one of the study's co-authors, argues that the study complements "a growing body of evidence" that air pollution from fossil fuels is harmful to global health, "when we know that fossil fuels have such a serious impact on health, we can no longer rely on fossil fuels." ”

The study found that China, India, parts of the eastern United States, Europe and Southeast Asia were the most affected regions. The data shows that 30.7% of deaths in East Asia, 16.8% in Europe and 13.1% in the United States can all be attributed to fossil fuel pollution.

To simulate pollution, the researchers used real emissions and meteorological data, mostly from 2012, to eliminate the effects of El Niño, which exacerbates or mitigates pollution in a place.

Researchers estimate that fossil fuel pollution in China fell by 44 percent between 2012 and 2018, and that the move saved 2.4 million lives worldwide, including 1.5 million in China itself.

Editor-in-charge: Hu Zhenqing

Proofreader: Ding Xiao