Air pollution is affecting more lives than any other disaster reported on the planet. Carbon Dioxide causes global warming and we featured a story where a group of engineers built a wall that can draw carbon dioxide from the air and convert it to fuel.
Currently air pollution is the world’s largest environmental health risk and taking more lives than AIDS, malaria, cancer and tuberculosis. Smoke and other gases from industries cause a danger to many people in cities and neighboring towns. China is the most affected country because of the many industries and huge population. A study was done and found out that air pollution in China is killing a staggering 4,400 people per day.
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The researchers estimated that around 1.6 million people in China die per year from conditions related to air pollution, including heart problems, lung cancer and stroke. This pollution mainly comes from burning coal, which is still used as the country’s major source of fuel, and was reflected in data that showed that pollution levels increased during winter when more coal was being burnt to heat homes. Reports IFLScience.
Data was collected for a specific period of time in different stations around the country and gathered information every hour on the fine airborne particles present in the air. The tiny particles cause health problems when inhaled as they can subsequently enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body.
“The pollution worsens in the north-east of the country, around the city of Beijing and the government always promise to cut levels of pollution in the city in the lead up to the 2022 Winter Olympics.” The researchers said. They also found that while the city itself might be implementing measures to try and cut emissions within the city, such as limiting car use, most of the pollution actually originates in the major industrial zone of Shijiazhuang, 320 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of the capital.
Most Chinese people inhale unhealthy air but the country is trying to mitigate the causes, especially in tackling its reliance on coal. Coal over the years has been the major source of energy in China but has reported a drop because of other renewable sources of energy introduced in the country.
The study should be a game changer and countries should start implementing ways to mitigate air pollution before it wipes out the whole human generation.
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