New study shows India's filthy air cutting 660 million lives short by about 3 years

[A1Kaid]

FILE- In this Oct. 17, 2014, file photo, a thick blanket of smoke is seen against the setting sun as young ragpickers search for reusable material at a garbage dump in New Delhi, India. India’s filthy air is cutting 660 million lives short by about three years, while nearly all of the country’s 1.2 billion citizens are breathing in harmful pollution levels, according to research published Saturday, Feb. 21. While New Delhi last year earned the dubious title of being the world’s most polluted city, the problem extends nationwide, with 13 Indian cities now on the World Health Organization’s list of the 20 most polluted. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)


By KATY DAIGLE, AP Environment Writer Feb. 21, 2015 | 7:10 a.m. EST

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's filthy air is cutting 660 million lives short by about three years, according to research published Saturday that underlines the hidden costs of the country's heavy reliance on fossil fuels to power its economic growth with little regard for the environment.

While New Delhi last year earned the dubious title of being the world's most polluted city, India's air pollution problem is extensive, with 13 Indian cities now on the World Health Organization's list of the 20 most polluted.

That nationwide pollution burden is estimated to be costing more than half of India's population at least 3.2 years of their lives, according to the study, led by Michael Greenstone of the University of Chicago and involving environmental economists from Harvard and Yale universities. It estimates that 99.5 percent of India's 1.2 billion people are breathing in pollution levels above what the WHO deems as safe.


"The extent of the problem is actually much larger than what we normally understand," said one of the study's co-authors, Anant Sudarshan, the India director of the Energy Policy Institute of Chicago. "We think of it as an urban problem, but the rural dimension has been ignored."

Added up, those lost years come to a staggering 2.1 billion for the entire nation, the study says.

While "the conventional definition of growth has ignored the health consequences of air pollution, this study demonstrates that air pollution retards growth by causing people to die prematurely," Greenstone said in a statement.

For the study, published in Economic & Political Weekly, the authors borrowed from their previous work in China, where they determined that life expectancy dropped by three years for every 100 micrograms of fine particulate matter, called PM2.5, above safe levels. PM2.5 is of especially great health concern because, with diameters no greater than 2.5 micrometers, the particles are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs.

Excerpt: Filthy India air cutting 660 million lives short by 3 years - US News

 

[TimeTraveller]

FILE- In this Oct. 17, 2014, file photo, a thick blanket of smoke is seen against the setting sun as young ragpickers search for reusable material at a garbage dump in New Delhi, India. India’s filthy air is cutting 660 million lives short by about three years, while nearly all of the country’s 1.2 billion citizens are breathing in harmful pollution levels, according to research published Saturday, Feb. 21. While New Delhi last year earned the dubious title of being the world’s most polluted city, the problem extends nationwide, with 13 Indian cities now on the World Health Organization’s list of the 20 most polluted. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)


By KATY DAIGLE, AP Environment Writer Feb. 21, 2015 | 7:10 a.m. EST

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's filthy air is cutting 660 million lives short by about three years, according to research published Saturday that underlines the hidden costs of the country's heavy reliance on fossil fuels to power its economic growth with little regard for the environment.

While New Delhi last year earned the dubious title of being the world's most polluted city, India's air pollution problem is extensive, with 13 Indian cities now on the World Health Organization's list of the 20 most polluted.

That nationwide pollution burden is estimated to be costing more than half of India's population at least 3.2 years of their lives, according to the study, led by Michael Greenstone of the University of Chicago and involving environmental economists from Harvard and Yale universities. It estimates that 99.5 percent of India's 1.2 billion people are breathing in pollution levels above what the WHO deems as safe.


"The extent of the problem is actually much larger than what we normally understand," said one of the study's co-authors, Anant Sudarshan, the India director of the Energy Policy Institute of Chicago. "We think of it as an urban problem, but the rural dimension has been ignored."

Added up, those lost years come to a staggering 2.1 billion for the entire nation, the study says.

While "the conventional definition of growth has ignored the health consequences of air pollution, this study demonstrates that air pollution retards growth by causing people to die prematurely," Greenstone said in a statement.

For the study, published in Economic & Political Weekly, the authors borrowed from their previous work in China, where they determined that life expectancy dropped by three years for every 100 micrograms of fine particulate matter, called PM2.5, above safe levels. PM2.5 is of especially great health concern because, with diameters no greater than 2.5 micrometers, the particles are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs.

Excerpt: Filthy India air cutting 660 million lives short by 3 years - US News

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[A1Kaid]

It's surprising that 13/20 of the most polluted cities in the world are in India. Imagine the effect of this air pollution on wildlife throughout India, it is really harming the ecosystem.

 

[Dubious]

 

[rockstar08]

Call Modi ...

 

[Dem!god]

yeah... that's why we are stressing on renewable sources, and mass rapid transport systems.
But i fear, it will only increase in coming years, need to have bio fuels made of green blue alge, and increase forest cover to 33% from current 23% ...
delhi is one of worst city in pollution...

and common dont give that 3 year s*it.. its good people are departing early, india already has a huge population...and will only grow in future...

 

[Lord ZeN]

We are planning on 200GW of Solar power by 2028.
And that's gonna be biggest in the world by a large margin. And hey .. the Chinese are by far the biggest air polluters in the world.

 

[arbit]

Air pollution in developing countries is an unfortunate reality. Infact in a slightly twisted way, its an indicator to the industrial activity, something you wouldn't know much about.
China while setting a scorching pace of development was least bothered about environment and shit. All this talk about air quality and associated benefits are only applicable to nations who have leap frogged or passed through the early stage of industrial activity.

But you find an article and cloak your nit picking in fake concerns about the 'supposedly' reduced life expectancy in India.

Why don't you put your considerable efforts in educating pakistanis about how many bomb blasts go off on an annual basis? How many lives are terminated midway senselessly. May be then you will find that industrial pollution though unfortunate is much more welcome when its associated with progress.

Here is a link to help with your 'research'

 

[definitelynotIndian]

yea Delhi is really polluted right now I see more and more people wearing masks now a days.

 

[Dem!god]

We are planning on 200GW of Solar power by 2028.
And that's gonna be biggest in the world by a large margin. And hey .. the Chinese are by far the biggest air polluters in the world.

true percapita pollution of indians is only 1.1 ton annually.
lowest among developed and developing nations..

 

[Arya Desa]

That's cause the stupid farmers light their fields on fire and poor Indians cook with cow crap.

 

[A1Kaid]

That's cause the stupid farmers light their fields on fire and poor Indians cook with cow crap.

The article cites 13/20 most polluted cities in the world are in India, so the focus is on highly and densely populated cities not farms. Are Indian rural areas also highly and densely populated?

 

[Arya Desa]

The article cites 13/20 most polluted cities in the world are in India, so the focus is on highly and densely populated cities not farms. Are Indian rural areas also highly and densely populated?

Is Pakistan that different from India? Cities are surrounded by farmland. Those farmers, especially in Punjab, burn their fields. That smoke has to go somewhere, it goes towards South East. Just look at the location of those 13 cities.