Despite efforts to develop cleaner technology, air pollution remains quite possible the world's greatest killer. New reports by the WHO put the annual deaths around 7 million, with 90% of the global population breathing dangerous air. Air pollution itself is an amalgam of particles with different sizes and chemical properties, and so the health impacts of polluted air are complex and encompass a diversity of chronic illnesses, cognitive dysfunction, infectious disease, and more. The implications of this health crisis are not fully understood, but the costs are widespread, and rising. Worse, addressing this problem seems to lead us into a classic catch-22. Can we afford to ignore this problem anymore? Can we afford not to?

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Chapters

02:43 Magnitude of Air Pollution by Deaths

04:32 What is Air Pollution?

08:14 Hazy Places

10:30 Sources of Air Pollution

21:50 Does Progress Outweigh the Cost?

29:13 Health Impacts of Air Pollution

49:30 Catch-22

57:23 What Can We Do?

Recommended Reading

Ashes Ashes Episode 07: Last Gasp

World Health Organization: 9 out of 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air

Undark: Air Pollution and PM2.5

Sources

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Published 23-08-2018 20:16