You've seen China's pollution. While it might look like something out of Science Fiction or a video game, the horrible air quality is very real. And according to a new report, it's deadly. In 2010, 1.23 million Chinese died due to air pollution in 2010, nearly 40 percent of the global total. That accounts for roughly 15 percent of the deaths for that year. People inhale microscopic, toxic particulate matter (PM), which can pass from the lungs into the bloodstream. This particulate matter is able to impact the body's immune system, and it can cause diseases and cancer. It can also lead to an early death.
What the researchers
called “ambient particulate matter pollution” was the fourth-leading risk
factor for deaths in China in 2010, behind dietary risks, high blood pressure
and smoking. Air pollution ranked seventh on the worldwide list of risk
factors, contributing to 3.2 million deaths in 2010. There have been other
estimates of premature deaths because of air pollution. In 2011, the World
Health Organization estimated that there were 1.3 million premature deaths in
cities worldwide because of outdoor air pollution. A quarter of China is now
covered in a haze containing toxic pollutants
You know what's the saddest part of all this? China
is building nuclear reactors to get rid of all this pollution while here in Europe
were outlawing nuclear reactors and have to compensate with coal and oil. We
have the exact same problem here in the States, in regards of people avoiding
clean energy solutions. The sad thing is, although I'm sure China is to blame
for the bulk of their pollution woes, they certainly didn't do all of it. The
pollution one country makes doesn't magically hover above it in the air, it
moves with the weather. So it could be coming from anywhere.
Ryan Lindquist
April 19, 2013
2:09 p.m.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/world/asia/air-pollution-linked-to-1-2-million-deaths-in-china.html
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