Summary:
According to the WHO, around 7 million
people died from illnesses due to air pollution around the world in the year
2012. Over half of these deaths were linked to indoor smoke from cook stoves.
They say that air pollution in now the biggest environmental health risk for
people around the world. The deaths
caused by air pollution include but are not limited to, heart disease, stroke,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. Asia, the Pacific
Islands, and Southeast Asian regions have shown to be experiencing the most
harmful amounts of air pollution. According to the Who report 2.8 million and
2.3 million deaths were a result of air pollution in the year 2012. The number
can only go up as 2014 passes by. The
WHO results also showed that women in developing countries experience more
exposure to harmful pollution than men.
Analysis:
So why
are air pollution levels getting so bad and why are so many individuals dying
from deaths caused by air pollution? The
WHO estimates that about 3 billion people around the world rely on coal, wood,
and open-aired fires for household cooking.
In the country of India, 63% of the population uses solid fuels for
cooking, and these fuels produce harmful pollutants in to the air such as
carbon monoxide. Women and children are affected the most by the harmful pollutants
because they spend more time indoors than men do. This especially affects
poorer families who have leaky coal and wood cook stoves. Outdoor air pollution killed around 3.7
million people with the majority of those deaths coming from low- and
middle-income countries. The outdoor air pollution comes from sources like
diesel engines and industrial emissions. 60% of these deaths were due to cardiovascular
diseases such as stroke and heart disease.
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