Bad air values cause 50,000 preventable deaths each year
Although the last year gave the environment a little break, the fine dust values in many places in 2021 will still be alarmingly high. Sometimes entire metropolises sink into smog for days, and a U-turn is not in sight. A new study now shows how many deaths are the result each year.
The World Health Organization defined values some time ago that should not be exceeded in an environment that is not harmful to health. For fine dust (PM 2.5) this is 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air, for nitrogen dioxide a load of less than 40 micrograms per cubic meter applies.
In total, over 50,000 people in Europe die each year from diseases caused by unclean air. If the values were set to the lowest value ever measured, 125,000 people could survive annually. The published results also make it clear where the hotspots are on the continent.
People in the northern Po region of Italy suffer particularly badly due to unclean air. Poland and the Czech Republic are also at the forefront. In general, 84 percent of all urban residents across Europe are confronted with excessively high PM 2.5 values. Excessive nitrogen oxide levels are commonplace for 9 percent of people in European cities.
The new study makes it clear that the European Union must do significantly more to combat air pollution in order to protect its citizens from premature death in the coming decades. If we carry on like this, preventable deaths could hit 100,000 in the near future.
Own opinion:
Many construction sites have been pushed into the background due to the coronavirus pandemic in recent months, air pollution is one of them. We have to think differently if we want to keep a continent worth living in in the long term. This includes leaving the car parked much more frequently and doing without things like meat more often. After all, our future is in our own hands.
via The Guardian
