Air Pollution will Cost the World 17 Billion Life-Years, New Research Shows

Ninety-nine percent of people live in areas where air pollution is beyond safe levels, according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) latest research. This takes 2.2 years off of the average global life expectancy, which amounts to 17 billion life years.

This cost on life expectancy can be compared to the loss of life years due to smoking, more than triple that of unsafe drinking water and alcohol consumption, 6 times that of HIV/AIDS, and 89 times to loss of life years due to terrorism and armed conflict.

According to lead researcher Michael Greenstone at the University of Chicago whose team came out with the annual Air Quality Life Index report, the situation should be dealt with as if there were a space invasion.

“It would be a global emergency if Martians came to Earth and sprayed a substance that caused the average person on the planet to lose more than two years of life expectancy. This is similar to the situation that prevails in many parts of the world, except we are spraying the substance, not some invaders from outer space,” said Greenstone.

South and Southeast Asia suffer from the poorest air quality, where there is an expectation that residents will lose about 5 years off their lives on average if air pollution levels will not improve. This is the same case with parts of Central Africa.

Meanwhile, populations in those areas that surround cities such as Hanoi, Jakarta, and Mandalay are likewise expected to lose three to four years of life expectancy due to polluted air.

This is why there is a global urgency to address the problem of air pollution, not just because of global warming. It directly impacts human health, shortening the lives of people in many parts of the world.

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