Researchers at University of British Colombia in Canada have published a report stating that more than 5.5 million people on the planet are victims of Air Pollution. This number is on the rise every year. Now, the mind boggling fact is that India and China are major contributors to these deaths.
About 1.4 million people in India and 1.6 million in China contribute 55% of deaths caused by Air Pollution worldwide. "Air pollution is the fourth highest risk factor for death globally and by far the leading environmental risk factor for diseases," said Michael Brauer, a professor at the University of British Columbia's School of Population and Public Health in Vancouver, Canada.
Researchers believe that these factors will make people force lifestyle changes among a huge populous. A major contribution of poor air quality in India are wood and cow dungs used for cooking. People who switch to such methods belong mainly to rural and remote areas in India. They do it because of unavailability of cleaner fuel in these areas.
The tiny pollutants in the air, known as PM 2.5, rose to a belligerent high in New Delhi making the city’s air almost impossible to breathe. With keeping that in mind, Delhi government chose to curb the pollution by implementing several measures including shutting down schools for as long as needed.
Interestingly, around 20-40% of the pollution emitted from vehicle remain suspended in the air and the rest of the Delhi pollution is contributed by stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, Diwali crackers and toxic waste from industries.
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In China, the only major contributor of the air pollution is coal burning practices. Scientists predict that more than 1.3 million premature deaths will take place annually if such practices with coal remain unperturbed.
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