Study Links Polluted Air in China to 1.6 Million Deaths a Year

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Study Links Polluted Air in China to 1.6 Million Deaths a Year

BEIJING — Outdoor air pollution contributes to the deaths of an estimated 1.6 million people in China every year, or about 4,400 people a day, according to a newly released scientific paper.

The paper maps the geographic sources of China’s toxic air and concludes that much of the smog that routinely shrouds Beijing comes from emissions in a distant industrial zone, a finding that may complicate the government’s efforts to clean up the capital city’s air in time for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The authors are members of Berkeley Earth, a research organization based in Berkeley, Calif., that uses statistical techniques to analyze environmental issues. The paper has been accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS One, according to the organization.

According to the data presented in the paper, about three-eighths of the Chinese population breathe air that would be rated “unhealthy” by United States standards. The most dangerous of the pollutants studied were fine airborne particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which can find their way deep into human lungs, be absorbed into the bloodstream and cause a host of health problems, including asthma, strokes, lung cancer and heart attacks.

nytimes.com/2015/08/14/world/asia/study-links-polluted-air-in-china-to-1-6-million-deaths-a-year.html?_r=1

I have read other articles discussing cities in China that have terrible pollution problems. Maybe one was posted here, they obviously have a problem of some sort.

A country of over a billion should be kept in mind, it would not surprise me if we have some deaths in the USA that could be blamed on air pollution. This is probably the case in a number of countries, including Mexico, Mexico City itself can have terrible days pollution-wise because it is entrapped in the valley.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution_in_Mexico_City

London in the early 1950s, had a problem with pollution that was made worse by conditions.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog

 

[SuperLuigi]

There probably are deaths in the USA attributed to pollution. However, the EPA has standards and projections as to the effect of pollution.

I also think China has been polluting more than the USA for seven years or so.