• Donation
  • About Us
  • Career
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Thursday, May 19, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Africa Eco News
18 °c
Nairobi
  • Climate Change
  • Pollution
  • Energy
  • Wildlife
  • Environment
  • Infographic News
    • HEALTH
    • SPORTS
    • GAMES
      • CODEWORD
      • Sudoku
      • Simple Crossword
    • TODAY
      • HOROSCOPE
      • Quote Of The Day
      • Thought Of The Day
      • Today In History
      • TODAY’S BUSINESS TIP
      • Today’s Currency Exchange
      • Today’s Life Lesson
      • Today’s Personal Finance Tip
      • Today’s Prayer
      • Today’s Stock Market
    • NEWS KIOSK
    • PHOTO GALLERIES/SLIDES
  • AFRICA ECO NEWS TV
  • Climate Change
  • Pollution
  • Energy
  • Wildlife
  • Environment
  • Infographic News
    • HEALTH
    • SPORTS
    • GAMES
      • CODEWORD
      • Sudoku
      • Simple Crossword
    • TODAY
      • HOROSCOPE
      • Quote Of The Day
      • Thought Of The Day
      • Today In History
      • TODAY’S BUSINESS TIP
      • Today’s Currency Exchange
      • Today’s Life Lesson
      • Today’s Personal Finance Tip
      • Today’s Prayer
      • Today’s Stock Market
    • NEWS KIOSK
    • PHOTO GALLERIES/SLIDES
  • AFRICA ECO NEWS TV
No Result
View All Result
Africa Eco News
No Result
View All Result
Home Pollution

One million premature deaths linked to ozone air pollution

by patrick
September 9, 2017
in Pollution
0
0
SHARES
28
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

New research links long-term exposure to ozone air pollution with one million premature deaths per year, more than double previous estimates. PHOTO/REUTERS

By A CORRESPONDENT
newsdesk@reporter.co.ke
A new article in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives quantifies the global impact of long-term ozone exposure on respiratory mortality.
It finds that in 2010, long-term outdoor exposure to ozone air pollution contributed to about 1 million premature respiratory deaths globally – or approximately one in five of all respiratory deaths. This is substantially larger than previous estimates.
“This study highlights that exposure to ozone may make a substantially greater contribution to the global burden of disease than previously thought,” said Chris Malley, lead author of the study and researcher at Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York.
Findings from this study were based on results from a recent analysis of the association of long-term ozone exposure and respiratory mortality in 670,000 adults, with a substantially larger number of included study participants and observed deaths than an earlier estimate, on which previous global ozone health impacts calculations have been based.
The largest contribution to global ozone-attributable respiratory deaths was from Asia, which accounted for about 79 per cent of the global total. India alone accounted for about 400,000, and China for about another 270,000. Africa, Europe and North America each had between 50,000 and 60,000 ozone-attributable deaths, with fewer in Latin America and Oceania.
“There is a degree of uncertainty in these estimates because the concentration-response function we used is based on analysis from the United States,” Malley said. “We don’t know whether the relationship is the same in other regions, such as in India and China, where the prevalence of other risk factors for respiratory diseases varies considerably. We also estimated people’s ozone exposure using a global atmospheric chemistry transport model, which means that we could not account for differences in ozone exposure at small geographic scales.”
The analysis grew out of SEI’s Initiative on Low Emission Development Pathways, which includes the development of a “benefits calculator” to help policymakers and planners assess the potential benefits of undertaking measures that reduce air pollution.
SEI’s Initiative on Low Emission Development Pathways is contributing to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC), where SEI is working with UN Environment and other organizations to support more than 20 developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America in developing plans to reduce emissions leading to formation of ground-level ozone.
“Our colleagues from countries such as Ghana, Peru, Nigeria and Bangladesh have highlighted the importance of air pollution impacts on health as a motivation for reducing emissions,” said SEI’s Policy Director Johan C.I. Kuylenstierna, co-author of the study and a member of the CCAC Scientific Advisory Panel. “Knowing that reducing outdoor air pollution, including ozone, could make an even larger contribution to improving health, provides a compelling new reason to invest in actions reducing emissions.”
So, what can be done to reduce ozone exposure? Given that many people, particularly in the poorest and most vulnerable populations, cannot easily relocate, the key is to address the sources of pollution, Malley and Kuylenstierna stressed.
Ozone is not directly emitted but is formed in the atmosphere from emissions of pollutants like nitrogen oxides from vehicles, organic compounds from solvent use, and methane from agriculture. Once formed, ozone can stay in the atmosphere for a few weeks and travel long distances from the emission sources, across countries and continents.
“To reduce ozone pollution, you need to control emissions of different precursors from many different sources,” Kuylenstierna said. “This includes emissions from road transport, household energy use, as well as methane emissions from agriculture.”
“It is important to realize that action needs to be taken on all the major sources,” Kuylenstierna added. “The long-range transport of ozone means that to reduce ozone, action is needed on local, national, regional and global scales. That means that regional cooperation often is needed to solve the problem.”
This article was originally published by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.
 

Help us report stories that expose environmental degradation, deforestation, pollution, poaching and ivory trade, illegal fishing, dumping of toxic waste, e-waste and plastics, illegal mining, climate change and impacts of global warming on different sectors of the economy and communities, not only in Africa, but also across the globe. While traditional news reporting is losing its relevance, serious investigative journalism requires more than basic journalistic skills. To do this we require a lot of resources.
You can either BECOME A SPONSOR or MAKE A CONTRIBUTION


Nelson Mandela once said: “A critical, independent, and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favor. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens.”

If you like our journalism support us to continue bringing you groundbreaking and agenda setting stories.

patrick

patrick

Next Post

Maldives latest country to join clean seas campaign

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Baltic Exchange starts tracking shipping emissions

Baltic Exchange starts tracking shipping emissions

3 years ago

World Environment Day: Greenpeace Africa launches online campaign platform to strengthen environmental activism in Africa

4 years ago

Popular News

    Connect with us

    Newsletter








    Recent Posts

    • What to expect at the UN Environment Assembly this week
    • COP26 ends with Glasgow Climate Pact, a “bridge” to transformative climate action
    • PACJA: COP26 will offer nothing to African people
    • COP26: Surprise deal as US-China pledge ambitious climate action
    • OPINION | Green Industrial Revolution required to get the world to zero carbon emissions by 2050

    Like & Follow us :)

    Share

    About Us

    Africa Eco News

    Shinning light on environmental degradation and conservation in Africa

    • Donation
    • About Us
    • Career
    • Advertise
    • Contact

    Copyright 2018. Africa Eco News. All rights reserved.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Climate Change
    • Pollution
    • Energy
    • Wildlife
    • Environment
    • Infographic News
      • HEALTH
      • SPORTS
      • GAMES
        • CODEWORD
        • Sudoku
        • Simple Crossword
      • TODAY
        • HOROSCOPE
        • Quote Of The Day
        • Thought Of The Day
        • Today In History
        • TODAY’S BUSINESS TIP
        • Today’s Currency Exchange
        • Today’s Life Lesson
        • Today’s Personal Finance Tip
        • Today’s Prayer
        • Today’s Stock Market
      • NEWS KIOSK
      • PHOTO GALLERIES/SLIDES
    • AFRICA ECO NEWS TV

    Copyright 2018. Africa Eco News. All rights reserved.

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Fill the forms bellow to register

    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In