English 
Français WORLD - POLLUTION - POLLUTION FROM FOSSIL FUELS KILLED 8 MILLION PEOPLE IN 2018
Pollution caused by fossil fuels was responsible for more than 8 million premature deaths in 2018, accounting for 20% of all adult deaths worldwide, according to a study published on Tuesday 9 February 2021.
GLOBAL MORTALITY COMPARISON: COVID VS POLLUTION
Deaths attributed to Covid-19 from March 2020 to March 2021 = 2,593,230
Premature deaths caused by pollution from fossil fuels in 2018 = over 8,000,000
That is three and a half times more deaths from pollution caused by fossil fuels than from Covid, for which the world was practically paralysed for a year...
What if we started to focus on what is truly essential for our planet?
THE ENERGY TRANSITION
Whilst Western leaders are rushing headlong towards a global vaccination campaign… let’s focus on the practicalities instead and leave this lucrative business to the pharmaceutical companies and their ‘employees’…
What is concrete and essential for humanity is the energy transition from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy, accessible to everyone at a fair price.
Indeed, there can be no question of producing 100% renewable energy accessible only to a certain social elite – certainly not!!
Our future 100% renewable energy production must be very cheap so that every social class in the world can have access to it and is no longer dependent on fossil fuel production, which kills more and more people year after year!!
Alain Farrugia
Air pollution is the scourge that most reduces life expectancy worldwide
China and India alone account for half of this toll, whilst another million deaths are shared between Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan and the United States, according to a study in the scientific journal Environmental Research.
The toxic cocktail of fine particulate matter generated by the burning of oil, gas and, above all, coal is responsible for at least a quarter of deaths in half a dozen countries, all in Asia.
"Health impacts are overlooked"
"We often talk about the dangers of burning fossil fuels in the context of CO2 emissions and climate change. We overlook the potential health impacts," said one of the co-authors, Joel Schwartz, of the Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University.
According to previous research, air pollution reduces life expectancy by more than two years, on average. And Asia is the hardest hit, with life expectancy reduced by more than four years in China in particular, compared with eight months in Europe.
Figures doubled
The new study doubles previous estimates of the number of deaths linked to pollution generated by fossil fuels.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution (which includes pollution from cooking and heating in homes) kills 7 million people a year, 4.2 million of whom are affected by outdoor pollution.
The latest data from the “Global Burden of Disease” observatory, which tracks causes of death worldwide, are similar.
Both estimates are based on satellite data and ground-level measurements to determine concentrations of PM2.5 fine particulate matter.
But they do not allow us to determine whether these particles come from the burning of fossil fuels or from smoke from forest fires, noted co-author Loretta Mickley, a specialist in climate-chemistry interactions at Harvard.
“With satellite data, we only see certain pieces of the puzzle,” she said.
To refine the picture, the research team used a 3D atmospheric chemistry model that divides the Earth into 60km by 50km grids, coupled with CO2 emissions data from various sectors (industry, aviation, etc.) and NASA air circulation simulations.
Once the PM2.5 concentration was known, they examined the impact on health. As recent studies have shown this threat to be underestimated, they developed a new risk model.
Compared to other causes of premature death, air pollution—which causes heart and lung diseases—kills 19 times more people each year than malaria, nine times more than AIDS, and three times more than alcohol
Whilst the threat of coronavirus has the world on edge, researchers are drawing our attention to another scourge. A scourge they believe has a greater impact than wars, malaria, AIDS or smoking. That scourge is air pollution.
Globally, smoking is responsible for a loss of life expectancy of 2.2 years on average. It causes 7.2 million deaths every year. AIDS shortens life expectancy by 0.7 years on average. It claims 1 million lives a year. For malaria, we are talking about a reduction in life expectancy of 0.6 years and 600,000 deaths a year. Wars cause a reduction in life expectancy of 0.3 years and 530,000 deaths annually.
However, according to a study carried out by German researchers, the scourge that surpasses all of these is air pollution.
It reduces life expectancy by an average of 3 years worldwide.
In 2015, it caused 8.8 million premature deaths!
These figures show that, in terms of loss of life expectancy, air pollution exceeds:
- malaria by a factor of 19
- violence by a factor of 16
- alcohol by a factor of 45
- drug abuse by a factor of 60
“Given that the impact of air pollution on public health as a whole is much greater than expected and is a global phenomenon, we believe our findings show that there is an ‘air pollution pandemic’,” says researcher Thomas Münzel in a press release from the European Society of Cardiology.
In Africa and South Asia, in low-income countries, children suffer particularly from air pollution. But this is not the case elsewhere in the world. Here, the number of years of life lost due to air pollution. In total, an average of 233 million years per year. © Cardiovascular Research
A ‘pandemic’ that affects different regions and age groups differently
Looking at the details, the researchers found that cardiovascular diseases account for the largest proportion of premature deaths due to air pollution. They account for 43% of the loss of life expectancy worldwide.
They also noted that air pollution had a greater impact on shortening the lives of older people. Globally, around 75% of deaths attributable to air pollution occur in people over the age of 60.
The researchers also sought to distinguish the effects of human-caused pollution from those arising from natural sources (desert dust, volcanic activity, forest fires, etc.). They show that two-thirds of premature deaths are attributable to human-caused pollution. In particular, that resulting from the use of fossil fuels. They therefore believe that by specifically eliminating these emissions, average global life expectancy would increase by just over a year.
"Five and a half million deaths are preventable every year"
But the impact could be even greater depending on the region. In East Asia, three to four years of life could be gained. Overall, “five and a half million deaths are preventable every year,” says Thomas Münzel, who is calling on policymakers and the medical community to take the threat seriously.
Air pollution kills twice as many people as previously thought
Pollution is believed to be responsible for nearly 800,000 deaths a year in Europe and 8.8 million worldwide, according to a new study. In France, one in every 1,000 deaths is thought to be attributable to poor air quality.
Article by Futura with AFP-Relaxnews published on 17/03/2019
Air pollution caused by fine particulate matter is responsible for the deaths of 48,000 people every year in France.
Here, pollution over Tokyo. Image by: telophase-1306424/Pixabay
Every year, nearly 800,000 people in Europe die prematurely as a result of air pollution.
Between 40 and 80 per cent of these premature deaths are due to cardiovascular disease, according to German researchers, who have published a new study in the European Heart Journal.
"Pollution kills more people than tobacco"
This means that air pollution causes more deaths each year than tobacco, which was responsible for 7.2 million deaths in 2015 according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), says one of the authors, Professor Thomas Münzel of the University of Mainz (Germany).
"However, whilst we can choose not to smoke, we cannot avoid being exposed to polluted air," he adds.
The researchers estimate that 790,000 deaths were caused by air pollution across Europe in 2015, including 659,000 in the 28 EU member states. This estimate is significantly higher than that of the European Environment Agency (EEA). In its annual report published in October, it estimated that air pollution from very fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2, emitted by diesel engines) and ozone (O3) was responsible in 2015 for 518,000 premature deaths across 41 European countries, and 480,000 within the EU.
This new study focuses primarily on Europe, but its authors have also applied their calculation method to the whole world. They arrive at the staggering figure of 8.8 million deaths caused by air pollution in 2015 across the globe, including 2.8 million in China.
Previous studies had put the global total at around 4.5 million. To revise these figures, the German researchers used a new statistical tool, based on a model simulating how atmospheric gases interact with chemical compounds resulting from human activity (energy production, industry, transport, agriculture, etc.). They then combined this data with mortality rates and exposure levels.
“We used new risk analyses, based on much broader epidemiological data than before, drawn from 16 countries,” one of the scientists, Jos Lelieveld, told AFP.
Pollution: 105 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in France
On average, the global excess mortality attributed to air pollution by this study is 120 deaths per year per 100,000 inhabitants. This rate is higher in Europe (133), although controls there are stricter than in other regions.
“This is due to a combination of poor air quality and high population density, resulting in some of the highest exposure levels in the world,” according to Professor Lelieveld.
Eastern Europe is particularly affected, with 36,000 deaths per year in Romania and 76,000 in Ukraine, representing rates of over 200 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. For France, the rate is 105 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with 98 in the United Kingdom and 154 in Germany.
The study’s authors consider it “urgent” to lower the exposure limits for fine particulate matter. The annual average limit for PM2.5 set by the European Union is 25 micrograms per cubic metre, which is 2.5 times higher than the WHO’s recommendations.
“Given that most fine particulate matter and other air pollutants in Europe stem from the combustion of fossil fuels, there is an urgent need to switch to other energy sources,” argues Professor Lelieveld.
The underestimated cardiovascular risk
This research “seems to show that the cardiovascular risk linked to air pollution has been underestimated, and I find this observation relevant,” comments a scientist who did not participate in the study, Dr Holly Shiels of the University of Manchester.
“Previously, the focus was on the cancer risks linked to air pollution or the immediate effects on the respiratory system. Now, we have a better understanding of the link to heart problems, effects on the brain or reproductive issues,” says Hans Bruyninckx, head of the European Environment Agency (EEA).
It has long been known that pollution is responsible for one in six deaths worldwide
Article by AFP-Paris published on 23/10/2017
Three times more than AIDS, fifteen times more than wars: pollution is a serial killer, concludes the global study published in the medical journal The Lancet. And poor populations are hit hardest. These damning figures should spur us into action.
One in six deaths worldwide in 2015 was linked to pollution, mainly air pollution, but also water and workplace pollution, according to a report published on Friday in The Lancet.
“It is estimated that diseases caused by pollution were responsible for nine million premature deaths in 2015, accounting for 16% of all deaths worldwide,” states the report, the result of two years’ work by a commission comprising the British medical journal, several international organisations, NGOs and some forty researchers specialising in health and environmental issues.
This figure represents “three times more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and fifteen times more than those caused by wars and all other forms of violence,” the authors emphasise. Air pollution (both outdoor and indoor) alone is responsible for 6.5 million deaths each year, mainly through non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, strokes, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Polluted water is linked to 1.8 million deaths, for example through poor sanitation or the contamination of water sources, which cause gastrointestinal diseases and parasitic infections.
Pollution in the workplace is thought to cause around 800,000 deaths, through exposure to toxic or carcinogenic substances.
Pollution kills the poor more
Image by: ameeq-1625162/ Pixabay
This estimate is “likely to be an underestimate”, adds The Lancet, given “the many emerging chemical pollutants that have yet to be identified”. The phenomenon primarily affects “poor and vulnerable populations”, notes the report. Indeed, 92% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries and, in each country, they disproportionately affect minorities and marginalised populations.
In rapidly industrialising countries, such as China, India, Kenya, Madagascar and Pakistan, up to one in four deaths could be linked to pollution.
The report also highlights the economic burden of these shortened lives on the countries concerned: more than $4.6 trillion annually (€3.9 trillion), equivalent to 6.2% of global economic wealth. Yet this burden remains “neglected by both governments and development organisations”, laments The Lancet in an editorial accompanying the report.
The medical journal calls for “urgent action to tackle the situation” and to dispel “the myth that pollution is an inevitable consequence of economic development”.
48,000 deaths a year in France due to air pollution
AFP article published on 22 June 2016
The presence of fine particulate matter contributes to cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological diseases, as well as cancers. As a result, air pollution is the third leading cause of preventable deaths in France, after tobacco and alcohol.
Deaths caused by this pollution linked to human activities (transport, industry, heating with fossil fuels such as fuel oil, agriculture, etc.) account for 9% of mortality in mainland France (excluding Corsica and overseas territories, i.e. nearly 62 million inhabitants), according to a study by Santé Publique France.
Thus, “the burden (the health impact) of air pollution ranks third, behind that of tobacco (78,000 deaths per year) and alcohol (49,000 deaths),” emphasises Professor François Bourdillon, Director General of this public body, who describes it as a “kind of invisible mortality”.
This pollution represents “a loss of life expectancy for a 30-year-old that can exceed two years”, the study highlights. The loss of life expectancy is, on average, higher in large cities (15 months or more), but it does not spare rural areas (nine months).
The map of fine particulate matter concentrations shows that levels are higher in large urban areas such as the Paris region, north-eastern France and the Lyon-Marseille corridor.
Deaths due to pollution are partly preventable
More than 34,000 of these 48,000 deaths could be prevented each year if all municipalities in mainland France managed to achieve the fine particulate matter levels of the 5% of municipalities (of equivalent population size) with the lowest pollution levels, according to one of the scenarios adopted by the study’s authors.
However, Sylvia Médina, coordinator of the Air Santé programme, notes that the mortality figures cited in this new study are not higher than those in previous findings. In particular, the French study confirms the findings of the 2000 European CAFE (Clean Air for Europe) study, which estimated the number of pollution-related deaths in France at over 40,000.
Furthermore, pollution peaks have less of an impact on health than chronic exposure. In the long term, the impact on health results mainly from day-to-day exposure to pollution levels below the alert thresholds, which are triggered at a concentration of 80 micrograms of PM10 (particles with a diameter of less than 10 microns) per cubic metre of air.
Exposure to air pollution, particularly to fine particulate matter, contributes to the development of cardiovascular diseases (heart attacks, etc.), respiratory and neurological conditions, and cancers. It also contributes to ‘reproductive and developmental disorders in children’, adds Sylvia Médina.
Sources:
