Poisoned Poor Killed in Millions by Pollution
The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution calls for a war against pollution to save the lives of more than eight million people annually. David Biello reports
By David Biello
SUBSCRIBE TO 60-Second Earth
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
What kills more people than HIV, malaria and tuberculosis every year? Air pollution. Tack on fouled water and poisoning by toxic waste and pollution killed 8.4 million people in 2012—or nearly three times as many people as those three diseases. Combined.
That's according to a new analysis by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution based on data collected by the World Health Organization.
The problem is people breathing in the fumes of cooking fires in smoky homes or the soot from coal-fired power plants outside. Or there's the suffering caused by raw sewage in the water supply or poisonous heavy metals that get into the soil via industrial waste.
That's why the Alliance is calling for a global battle to help the poisoned poor via the Sustainable Development Goals currently being formulated by the United Nations. The proposed goal would be to at minimum cut such pollution-related deaths to less than three million people per year by 2030.
The tools and technologies to cope with such pollution already exist and have been used for years to clean up the air and water in the richest countries, like the U.S. So maybe it's time to transfer that technology where it can save even more lives.
—David Biello
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
