13.5 million people died due to air pollution

Between 1980 and 2020, around 13.5 million people died prematurely due to air pollution.

Man-made greenhouse gas emissions and other sources such as wildfires cause this pollution.

Such a picture emerged from a study of a university in Singapore on Monday.

Asia has the highest number of premature deaths due to air pollution. More than 9.8 million people died prematurely in this continent, most of them in China and India.

The number of premature deaths in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Japan is 20 to 50 million.

A study by Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) shows the severity of air pollution.

The research was published in the Environment International , the university said on Monday.

Weather-related phenomena such as 'El Nino' ​​and 'The Indian Ocean Dipole' have exacerbated their effects by increasing the concentration of pollutants in the air, the researchers said.

Airborne particulate matter 2.5 or PM 2.5 entering the human body through inhalation is quite harmful. Because they are small enough to enter the bloodstream.

In addition to vehicle and industrial emissions, PM 2.5 is also released into the air from natural sources such as wildfires and dust storms.

Research reports that people are dying at a younger age than average due to diseases or conditions that could have been cured or prevented with treatment. These diseases include stroke, heart and lung disease and cancer.

The study also noted that such deaths have increased by 14 percent due to weather conditions.

“This is the most comprehensive study of weather and climate to date.”

The study used 40 years of data to provide a larger picture of the impact of PM 2.5 on human health.

Lead researcher Steve Im, Associate Professor at NTU's Asian School of the Environment, said: 'Our study shows that changes in climate patterns can make air pollution more severe.'

“Certain climate-related events like El Nino can increase pollution levels,” he said. This means more people may die prematurely from PM 2.5 pollution.'

The call of this researcher, to deal with air pollution to protect the health of the world, it is necessary to understand these issues. This situation emphasizes that point.

NTU researchers used NASA data to estimate the level of PM in the Earth's atmosphere.

The US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation analyzed air pollution-related death statistics.

On the other hand, weather data from 1980 to 2020 has been taken from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Im, the head of the research team, said that this study only focused on the effects of general weather in terms of air pollution. Future studies will look at the impact of climate.

Researchers from various universities in Hong Kong, United Kingdom and China also participated in this study of NTU.

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 6.7 million people worldwide die prematurely each year due to the combined effects of outdoor air pollution and indoor air pollution caused by fires and vehicle emissions.

Jagran/MA