The Air we Breathe today is polluted
The air we breathe today is the most polluted in the history of mankind. It has taken the proportions of posing as the world’s largest single environmental health hazard as well. In 1990, the World Bank commissioned a study called the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD), that undertook systematic measurement of global patterns for 107 diseases and 483 non-fatal health consequences.
In the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015) version, the report assessed the impact of 249 causes of death in 195 countries. The study finds that ambient PM2·5 was the fifth-ranking mortality and morbidity risk factor causing an estimated death of 4.2 million and disability of 103·1 million people, every year.
Based on the GBD 2015 report, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated the following:
World Health Organisation Estimations
- Air pollution, both ambient and indoor, is one of the biggest cause for deaths worldwide.
- Household air pollution is a leading killer in rural and urban homes. Nearly half of the world’s population still cooks on polluting mediums of fuel and stoves.
- About 1/4 of all non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have been caused by Air Pollution. These include heart attacks and about 1/3 of deaths from stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- Health impacts are seen to be more amongst women, children, older people and those below the poverty line.
- Affordable strategies exist to reduce emissions from transport, energy, waste, housing and industrial sectors.
- Climate Change – Tackling air pollution reduces emissions of both short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and long-lived CO2. This can also help reduce health risks related to weather extremes, sea level rise, drought and food production.
