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NINE OUT OF 10 people on the planet breathe polluted air, even outdoors, the World Health Organisation has said.
Some 92% of the population live in places where air pollution exceeds WHO limits, which can contribute to lung cancer, heart disease, and strokes.
The south-east Asia and western Pacific countries like China account for nearly two out of every three such deaths, the WHO said, and it’s “getting worse” for poorer countries.
The UN agency previously warned that tiny pollution particulates from industry, heating and transport are killing 3 million people worldwide each year. The WHO has broken down that figure by country for the first time.
The report also reveals that of the worst three nations, more than 1 million people died from dirty air in China in 2012, at least 600,000 in India and more than 140,000 in Russia.
At 25th out of 184 countries with data, the UK ranks worse than France, with 16,355 deaths in 2012 versus 10,954, but not as bad as Germany at 26,160.
Some 38,043 died in the US that year from particulate pollution.
The WHO report notes that 681 died in Ireland from air pollution in 2012 – or 15 per 100,000 people. The UK figure was 26 per 100,000, while Germany’s was 33 deaths per 100,000 and France’s was 17 per 100,000.
When “indoor” air pollution – including pollutants like wood smoke and cooking fires – is added, air pollution is linked to one in every nine deaths worldwide, the WHO said.
The air quality model used in the data measures the smallest particles, less than 2.5 micrometres across – which can enter the bloodstream and reach the brain.
The WHO described polluted air as a “public health emergency”.
Nearly 90% of air pollution-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries.
Turkmenistan has the highest death rate connected to outdoor air pollution. Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Egypt rounded out the top five.
South Asia is also badly affected, with the WHO saying poor air quality is responsible for the deaths of more than 600,000 people in India and 37,000 people in Bangladesh every year.
Pakistan too is suffering, with experts blaming unplanned and unsustainable development and warning that proposals for more coal-fired power stations will further worsen air quality.
Smog is a perennial problem in China, where pollution from heavy industry and a rapidly growing fleet of cars brews a toxic haze that, in the winter, can wreathe whole regions in a choking miasma.
Even Shanghai, reputed to have some of China’s cleanest air, struggles with constant haze. In 2015 readings of dangerous fine-particulate matter known as PM 2.5 averaged twice the WHO’s daily recommended maximum exposure of 25, according to government data.
Here are snapshots from four Asian cities:
In the shadow of a massive smouldering rubbish dump outside India’s sprawling capital, Ritu Devi fears for her children whom she says constantly fall sick from dirty air.
“Everything hurts. My eyes burn, my head hurts and I feel very dizzy at times,” said Devi, who guesses her age at 22 or 23.
“My children keep coughing and falling sick. My eyes burn and they start to water. These things keep happening to us,” she said, as her two-year-old daughter sat on her lap and tugged on her sari.
“We suffer because of all this smoke and pollution,” said Devi, whose husband works at a nearby market.
Locals living near the huge Ghazipur landfill site complain of chronic headaches, wheezing and recurring bouts of fevers and colds as methane from decomposing waste escapes the landfill and fills their homes. The methane, which traps heat, also sparks fires and smoke regularly billows from the site.
On a road choked with traffic in the Bangladeshi capital, 22-year-old rickshaw puller Nur Alam stops for a break.
Alam started riding a bicycle taxi five years ago, competing with motorbikes and cars for space on Dhaka’s streets, after he arrived from his village in the south in the hope of making some money.
“I often feel suffocated while I work, especially, when I’m stuck in traffic jams,” Alam said. “The strong smell of black smoke and the open garbage dumps sometimes weaken me,” the father-of-one said.
“Sometimes I see white rashes on my skin. I have never visited a doctor to check it, but I think it’s because of the pollution I have to face everyday,” he added.
Like thousands of other rickshaw pullers, Alam works about 12 hours a day, seven days a week, rarely taking a day off in one of the world’s most populated and congested cities.
“I have no other means of income but pulling rickshaws to feed my family. I really have little choice,” Alam said.
In Pakistan’s largest city and commercial hub, Abdul Aziz, a 65-year-old rickshaw driver, said the pollution was suffocating.
“In traffic jams, the smoke emitting from bus and other vehicles is badly suffocating — it makes me feel very ill,” he said.
“I am a diabetic and the pollution further aggravates my illness. The environmental pollution is impacting my health and it becomes extremely difficult for me to drive the rickshaw in the suffocating traffic jams.
“So I have to park the vehicle on the side of the road till I catch my breath back.”
Mohammad Rameez, a 25-year-old office worker, called for the most polluting vehicles to be banned.
“As you can see, traffic is immense in the city of Karachi. There is no implementation of a law for those polluting vehicles which are emitting smoke,” he said.
“They should be guided, banned or stopped plying on the roads. Most of the vehicles being used are as old as the 1990s, so they all are contributing to pollution dangerously and affecting human health very badly.”
Dong Weiwei, a courier in his late 20s originally from Henan province, works outdoor riding his scooter delivering packages in Shanghai.
He said air pollution affects him, but his company does not supply masks or other protective equipment.
“Sometimes I feel I have difficulties breathing when the air is bad, but I rarely take any precautions about this. I have neither the time nor the money to do that.”
- © AFP, 2016 with reporting from Darragh Peter Murphy.
That was clear from day one anyway
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of MPs from May’s governing Conservative Party, said the findings were “highly speculative”
This is a clear example of cognitive bias – trying to twist data into your existing theory when it clearly doesn’t fit (AKA bashing a square peg into a round hole)
The farcical thing is, there is no data that the Brexiteer’s can point to in order to dispute it (cos there is none) only a wishlist and fairy tales
These guys are leading their country to the poor house (in the face of all evidence) in order to achieve some pipe dream of Britain……Its beyond belief …….
@Kevin McDonnell: its Ireland staying in the crooked EU will be the poor relation, not Britain
@Gus Sheridan: gus…. could you explain how Ireland will be poorer staying in a large trading block that has helped transform our country from one of Europe’s poorest to one of the world’s richest countries in 40 years? Maybe the type of economics and business im familiar with didn’t cover your expertise
@Marc Power: they are the country that takes the majority of our food produce, meat etc, the EU is a superstate that will continue to dictate how we run our country. Our budget has yo be seen by the Germans before we see it. What little semblance of neutrality will be brushed aside when we join the EU state army. We voted to join the EEC, to enable free trade, not the EU superstate run by Germany and France. If the UK economy suffers, so will we.
@Gus Sheridan: Show us ssome evidence please that Ireland will be poorer for staying in the EU.
@Gus Sheridan:
We were a country just above third world status when we joined the EU, now we are one of the richest countries in the world.
Maybe you miss the days of church led poverty stricken country but lets just the rest of us don’t.
Go here and try and find a country that has out preformed us since 1973:
https://countryeconomy.com/countries/compare/usa/ireland?sector=GDP+per+capita+%28Dollars%29&sc=XE34#tbl
There may be short term pain but long term gain.
@Sean Murphy: Can you point to any serious* analysis to prove that?? Things just don’t happen because we wish it
* = actual serious research, not the daily mail or sun
@Sean Murphy: No there won’t. You can’t replace the common market with trade deals with random countries half way around the world.
@Kevin McDonnell:
Afp here are citing buzzfeed.
@Maurice Bourke: They are citing a report by Whitehall that buzzfeed is quoting – the analysis was not done by buzzfeed itself.
And even if this report does not exist (the fact that many people who would see the report have commented on it suggests that it does) it is consistent with all the available serious* analysis on the impact of Brexit …….
@Kevin McDonnell: report covers next 15 years. How can you consider that short term?
@Sean Murphy: eh the report is for the next 15 years……
@Sean Murphy: More than likely the other way around.. Take Capital Punishment for 1.( I Do hope they make it Public,)
& does anyone know whats going to happen to the CHUNNEL..?
“It took just under six years and 13,000 workers to build the Channel Tunnel. The total cost came at an eye-watering £4.65 billion which would be the equivalent of £12 billion in today’s money.” Won’t be used as much I’d presume..?
Brexit has turned into an absolute mess.. can you imagine Boris and Mogg in change if May goes !
@martobaby: i think thats going to happen. Then we’ll see what a disastet brexit is going to be as no potential trading partner would ever take those two serious
@martobaby: Brexit was always going to be a mess. But the question is when she goes, before or after a deal is struck. There’s been speculation that she’ll certainly go after a deal. That’d leave Boris in charge of seeing through the final phase. However if the backbenchers are successful in ousting her earlier then it’ll be Jacob trying not to strike a deal. It’s not unlikely and it’d be pitiful.
Well the EU will make dam sure of that, god forbid it should work for the brits, the unelected leaders wouldn’t want that at all!
The Brits are losing a lot and they decided to lose it.
It makes no sense that they should moan about all they are losing because they decided to leave the EU and it’s the EUs fault. The Brits decided to leave, they aren’t getting thrown out.
@Colette Kearns: How it it EU’s fault????
Britain doesn’t even know what Britain wants………How do you negotiate effectively with a partner who hasn’t a breeze what he / she is looking for?
@alphanautica: we should leave the EU, we voted to join te EEC and not a European super state
This report was carried out by the same economists that predicted ‘doom and gloom’ immediately Britain decided to leave(emergency punitive budget, interest rate rises) yes the currency dropped but has now stabilised. It is important to Ireland that the British economy remains strong as they are our biggest customer. If their economy does deteriorate so will ours, instead of slagging off the UK and sucking up to those that want to control the Federal state of Europe we should be encouraging them to give the UK a fair deal, it will be in our economic benefit. I wonder who will support us when they decide that we will not be allowed set our own tax rates including Corporation tax.
@Hugh Fogerty: I hope the UK does have a strong economy. I will not get any joy out of watching their economy struggle (nor will my wallet)
But they seem to be doing everything to drag down their economy for the sake of some nationalist ideology.
In my opinion, its not about giving the UK a good deal or not, but making the best deal possible withing the laws and rules of the single market.
For example, the UK wants to leave single market and customs union, at the same time they want no border infrastructure with ROI. How do you have a market and customs difference without a border – I mean, what do they want themselves?????
@Kevin McDonnell: I read both the Uk and Irish papers, listen to the UK and Irish news on TV, they report the Brexit story completely differently, I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle. People say that if Cameron had got something on his begging trip to the the EU this whole thing would not have happened, I suspect the way the EU is heading, towards a federal superstate that will be governed by dictatorial powers that someone would have said “Stop” , maybe not the politicians of any particular country but the people.
@Hugh Fogerty: well said and so true
@Kevin McDonnell: I am not sure that Britain wants a borderless Ireland. The core Brexiteers, including the DUP, want all of their borders re-inforced, so whats said during the negotiation stages can be taken with a pinch of salt. I agree with most people commenting here, the whole thing is a shambles.
@Hugh Fogerty: “I wonder who will support us when they decide that we will not be allowed set our own tax rates including Corporation tax”.
We were given tax autonomy if Lisbon mk 2 was passed by the Irish people. It did pass. If the EU try to remove our tax autonomy then the result of Lisbon mk 2 must be set aside as it’s terms would be altered without a new Irish referendum to approve the change. If there was a new referendum on that issue, I do not believe it would pass. That would not please the EU.
@John Hagin Meade: I fully appreciate that about the Lisbon treaty, I suspect what they will do is change the rules by the back door. They will do some sweetheart deal for five or ten years and then then common EU tax rates will apply, Germany and the EU is looking at the longer picture. Treaties have been changed before without referendums, watch this space.
In other news pope found to be catholic, bear defecatory habits are arboreal
Jacob Rees Mogg is highly speculative
And watch the brexitloons try to debunk this
The voted to leave, that’s their problem. They mustn’t get any deal as a EU country. Rules are rules.
@Ramón Nomar: yes but who makes ‘the rules’ Germany and France, these rules are being made up as they go along, yesterday was a prime example when the EU negotiator set out the stall for the transition period. It took 10 minutes for all the ministers to agree it. Where was the discussion on such an important issue.
@Ramón Nomar: its our problem too as we will suffer if their economy contracts, think about it!
@Hugh Fogerty: In fairness the EU have been clear and consistent throughout the process, so it is much easier to get the agreement of the group of EU ministers. Certainly easier than it is for Britain, who have a divided cabinet, a divided ruling party, a divided opposition, and a divided country. Putin must be on the floor laughing…
Stay in the EU…..who wants disgusting nation state democracy…..fcuck that I want a tyrannical regime not answering to nobody……EU is great for the kids and family……EU EU …..more EU less democracy…..yeeeah…
@Johnnathan Biskalero: What?
@Johnnathan Biskalero: EU obviously don’t get it.
@Johnnathan Biskalero: bit early to be drinking.
@Johnnathan Biskalero: guys it was sarcastic comment……lol…..lighten up !!
@Kevin McDonnell: sarcasm…….
@oh i dunno: not drinking at all…..as I said it was a sarcastic comment……the EU is exactly what I said above………
What are the main benefits of the EU ?
@Johnnathan Biskalero: Free trade.
It’s not like anybody warned this.
Brexit Definition : self harm at its worse https://www.facebook.com/Oreillydavid/videos/10215750088244982/
@Waterford Just shoot me: Like we don’t do anything stupid either?
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/scientologylinked-group-represented-ireland-at-the-un-36538079.html
https://www.facebook.com/Lugh.Iwerju/videos/vb.100002943854137/1280979505343499/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab
Yes kick the EU out before its too late
They shot themselves in the foot and are trying to cut the wound out with a huge knife and they’re wondering why it’s not getting any better.
@Dazz: Blinded by arrogance.
Load of rubbish . Scaremongering nothing more . What happen to all the doom and gloom that was ment to happen when article 50 was triggered . In 5 yrs time people will be wondering what all the fuss was about .
@Tommy Whelan:To answer your question I would point to the fact that they have already dropped from 5th to 11th place in the Economic rankings
Months ago a Teagasc economist said that the various Brexit outcomes vary only in the degree of harm to our economy. The Brits are only now doing the impact assessment? WTF!
Brexit bad under any scenario!? No shite Sherlock
The English people were sold a pig in a poke..They should be afforded another ballot
@James Mc Loughlin:
No. They voted to leave the EU for political reasons (control of their own affairs and immigration) rather than economic, that decision stands.
Any future ballet will be on the final deal, take it or leave it – staying in the EU is no longer an option.
Kick them out already!!!
The EU exists because of the WTO? Being in the EU is like not being in the WTO. So would it not be better not to join the WTO after Brexit???
have your say