Smoke hangs over the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge in San Francisco, California, United States on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. Strong, dry winds sweep across northern California for a third day, raising the risk of wildfires in a region that has been battered by blaze-ravaged heat waves, freak thunderstorms and dangerously poor air quality.
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Air pollution, which is primarily the result of burning fossil fuels, shortens the global life expectancy of every human by 2.2 years, according to a new report from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).
The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) finds that combined air pollution takes 17 billion life years, and reducing air pollution to meet international health guidelines would increase global average life expectancy from about 72 to 74.2 years
Life expectancy from air pollution compared to other more well-known causes of health damage such as smoking and terrorism.
Diagram courtesy of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).
According to the report, first-hand cigarette smoke reduces life expectancy by an average of 1.9 years. Alcohol and drug use shorten life expectancy by an average of nine months, unsafe water and sanitation shorten life expectancy by seven months, HIV and AIDS shorten life expectancy by four months, malaria shorten average life expectancy by three months, and conflict and terrorism shorten life expectancy by seven days, according to the report.
The AQLI report is notable because its estimate of the impact of particulate matter pollution on human life expectancy is based on research that allows it to show causation rather than just correlation. “Because of the way these studies were designed — and the fairly random set of guidelines that enabled this design, they established a causal rather than a correlative relationship between particulate matter exposure and mortality,” said Christa Hasenkopf, the director of AQLI CNBC.
Air pollution is so dangerous because it’s unavoidable, especially for people living in particularly polluted places, the report says. “While it is possible to quit smoking or take precautions against disease, everyone needs to breathe air. Therefore, air pollution affects many more people than any of these other diseases,” the report said.
Sixty percent of particulate matter air pollution comes from burning fossil fuels, 18% comes from natural sources (including dust, sea salt, and wildfires), and 22% comes from other human activities.
The report, developed by University of Chicago’s Michael Greenstone and his team at EPIC, is a measurement of air pollution in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic reduced activity and transportation.
The massive decline in activity only marginally reduced global pollution. Population-weighted particulate matter fell from 27.7 micrograms (one millionth of a gram) per cubic meter of air to 27.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air between 2019 and 2020, according to the report.
And in South Asia, where air pollution is at its worst, air pollution increased in 2020 compared to the previous year. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are among the most polluted countries in the world.
Particulate matter pollution is airborne and categorized by size. The smaller it is, the deeper it can penetrate the body. Particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter, often referred to as PM10, can travel through the hairs in the nose, down the airways and into the lungs.
Smaller particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, often referred to as PM2.5, are about 3% the diameter of a human hair and can enter the bloodstream via the alveoli. It can affect blood flow and eventually cause a stroke, heart attack, and other health problems.
More than 97% of the world’s population lives in areas where air pollution exceeds current World Health Organization recommended guidelines.
Diagram courtesy of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).
When the World Health Organization first published air quality guidelines in 2005, they said the acceptable level of air pollution was less than 10 micrograms per cubic metre. In September, the World Health Organization changed its benchmark guidelines to below 5 micrograms per cubic meter.
Currently, 97.3% of the world’s population, or 7.4 billion people, live in places where air quality does not exceed the WHO recommended limit of 5 micrograms per cubic meter for particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns.
“This report reconfirms that particulate matter pollution is the number one global health threat,” wrote Greenstone, who was previously chief economist for former President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. “Nevertheless, we also see the opportunity for progress. Air pollution is a winnable challenge. It only requires effective action.”
Buildings in Beijing, China, are shrouded in smog on February 26, 2014.
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For example, China has dramatically improved its air quality. In 2014, after a year in which China recorded record levels of pollution, then Premier Li Keqiang declared the “war on pollution”. The government spent money to fight pollution and has reduced particulate matter pollution by 39.6%, the report said.
Despite China’s progress, air pollution in China is still above WHO recommendations.
“It is important to note that air pollution is also closely intertwined with climate change. Both challenges are mainly caused by the same culprit: emissions of fossil fuels from power plants, vehicles and other industrial sources,” reads the report’s summary. “These challenges also represent a rare win-win opportunity as policies can simultaneously reduce dependence on fossil fuels, allowing people to live longer and healthier lives and reduce the costs of climate change.”
The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest medical association, voted Monday to adopt a directive to declare climate change a public health crisis.
“The scientific evidence is unequivocal – our patients are already facing adverse health effects associated with climate change, from heat-related injuries, vector-borne diseases and air pollution from wildfires, to worsening seasonal allergies and storm-related illnesses and injuries COVID-19 Pandemic, the climate crisis will disproportionately affect the health of historically marginalized communities,” AMA Board Member Ilse R. Levin said in a written statement announcing the vote. “Taking action now will not undo all the damage done, but it will help prevent further damage to our planet and the health and well-being of our patients.