Reduction in climate pollutants could save five million lives a year, WHO report says

Reducing emissions of black carbon, ozone, and methane could save millions of lives a year, a new report by the World Health Organization has found.1

The report said that exposure to outdoor air pollution is estimated to cause around 3.7 million premature deaths a year, and 4.3 million deaths a year are attributed to household air pollution from burning solid fuel. Diseases caused by exposure to these pollutants include: ischaemic heart disease, which is responsible for more than 2.6 million deaths a year; stroke (2.97 million deaths); chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (966 900); and lung …