(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

(The Gist of Science Reporter) Air Pollution Reduces Life Expectancy in Children [JUNE-2019]

Air Pollution Reduces Life Expectancy in Children

Air pollution is reducing the life expectancy of children in South Asia as they breathing in toxic air. Globally, air pollution has become a greater health risk factor than tobacco, smoking and malnutrition.
According to a special report on global exposure to air pollution and its disease burden — State of Glohal Air (SOGA) 2019 — in 2017 the highest mortality burden in ten countries including China. India, Pakistan, Indonesia. Bangladesh, Nigeria, US, Russia, Brazil and the Philippines was attributed to air pollution.
As per the report, air pollution is the leading environmental risk factor which ranked fifth among the global health risk factors for mortality in 2017 with approximately 4.9 million deaths and 147 million years of healthy life lost.
The report estimated the effect of air pollution on life expectancy which shows that toxic air has reduced the life expectancy globally by 20 months burning of solid fuels; dust from roads, construction and other activities; industrial and power plant burning of coal; brick. production; transportation, and diesel powered equipment were the major PM2.5 sources in India.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 91% of the world's population resides in regions where air quality exceeds WHO guideline targets.
As air quality improves, life expectancy will also increase. If global air quality meets WHO’s interim targets for air quality guideline for PM2.5 (10/µg/m3), life expectancy would increase by an average of about seven months.