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People ride New Delhi by bike
Photo: David Talukdar / imago images / ZUMA Wire
Life in big cities harbors a number of dangers.
The hardest part, however, is likely to weigh those who do not first think of it: According to a new study, people are more health impaired by fine dust and pollutants from power plants or cars than by traffic accidents, wars or infectious diseases such as HIV.
A new study by scientists led by Michael Greenstone from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago comes to the conclusion that bad air shortens the lives of billions of people on earth by an average of 2.2 years. The situation in Germany, where the loss of life is less than three months, is relatively manageable. But on a global scale there are huge differences: In the north of India, people sometimes lose 9.5 years of their lives due to polluted air. On average, the life expectancy of the country's residents is falling by almost six years, shows a world map developed by the researchers with the data. More than 480 million people who live in large parts of central, eastern and northern India are particularly affected.
According to an evaluation by Swiss researchers, New Delhi was the most polluted capital in the world for the third time in a row in 2020. To do this, they measured the air quality based on the concentration of lung-damaging particles (PM2.5). The latest report now shows that the high level of air pollution in India has expanded geographically over time, it says.
Naturally occurring fires or desert dust also contribute to pollution in some regions.
But researchers in Europe and North America count the more decisive causes above all in the use of fossil fuels such as oil and coal in cars or power plants.
Open fires also play a role in Africa and Asia.
When the tiny particles get into the air, people breathe them in.
In the organism, they trigger inflammatory reactions that favor lung or cardiovascular diseases.
Warsaw, Lodz and Milan affected
In Europe, the east is the most affected, the biggest problems are in Poland, especially in the cities of Warsaw and Lodz. Italy's Po Valley and Milan are also heavily polluted. "The residents there would gain a year and two months of life if the particulate matter pollution corresponded to the WHO guideline," it says. For the study, Greenstone and colleagues developed the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), which converts air pollution into its influence on life expectancy.
The researchers emphasize that the corona crisis has clearly shown the influence the government can have on the development of air quality. “During a truly unprecedented year, some people who are used to breathing dirty air have experienced clean air. And others who were used to clean air breathed dirty ones. This shows what an important role politics has played and could play in reducing fossil fuels - both in terms of local air pollution and climate change, ”says Greenstone.
In China, there has been a significant reduction in environmental pollution in a short period of time. Since the state started a corresponding program in 2013, particulate matter pollution has been reduced by 29 percent. As a result, the lives of the Chinese have been extended by around 1.5 years - provided these reductions are continued. This shows that progress is possible even in the world's most polluted countries.
A national program for better air quality was also launched in India in 2019.
If the targets are met, the life expectancy of the country could be increased by a total of 1.7 years and that of New Delhi by 3.1 years, the researchers calculate.
The program aims to reduce pollution in the 102 hardest hit cities by 20 to 30 percent by 2024.
To this end, industrial emissions and exhaust gases from vehicles are to be reduced, and strict regulations for fuels and the combustion of biomass are to be introduced.
In addition, better monitoring systems are to be introduced.
joe / Reuters