According to a team of scientists, the increase in outdoor air pollution and lead poisoning since 2015 has caused the death of about 9 million people annually, which undermines the slight progress in the fight against pollution worldwide.
According to scientists’ analysis of data on global mortality and pollution levels, air pollution from industrial and urban processes caused a 7% increase in pollution deaths between 2015 and 2019.
“Despite climate change, malaria and HIV,” we do not focus too much on environmental pollution, “said Richard Fuller, co-author of the study and head of the global nonprofit organization Pure Earth.
Estimates in the previous version of the study, published in 2017, showed that the number of deaths due to pollution annually reaches about 9 million people, or one in six deaths worldwide. The costs of the global economy have also increased to 4.6 trillion annually.
In a recent study published online in the Lancet Planetary Health, researchers analyzed 2019 data from a University of Washington study that examines exposure to pollution and calculates the risk of death from it. کردن.
The recent study focuses specifically on the causes of pollution and separates traditional pollutants such as smoking or sewage from more modern pollutants such as air pollution due to industry and toxic chemicals.
Researchers have found that deaths from traditional pollutants have declined globally, but remain a major problem in Africa and some other developing countries, according to Reuters.
Polluted data to calculate the impact of pollution showed that polluted water, poor soil and indoor climate were the factors that made Chad, the Central African Republic and Niger the countries with the highest pollution-related deaths.
Government programs to reduce indoor air pollution and improve public health have reduced mortality elsewhere. Meanwhile, in 2016, the Indian government began proposing to replace wood stoves with gas connections.
“Deaths from exposure to modern pollutants such as heavy metals, agricultural chemicals and emissions of fossil fuels are” significantly increasing, “said Rachel Kopka, executive director of the World Union for Health and Pollution Control in New York. “, Which has increased by 66% since 2000.
Some large capitals have been somewhat successful in combating outdoor air pollution, including Bangkok, Beijing and Mexico City, but pollution is still high in smaller cities, the researchers said.
The study compiled a list of the 10 countries with the highest rates of infection-related deaths based on the results set to calculate pollution. These countries include Chad, the Central African Republic, Niger, the Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, North Korea, Lesotho, Bulgaria and Burkina Faso, respectively.
Source: Lebanon Debate
