Air pollution cuts human life expectancy by three years

According to a global survey published by The Guardian, humans are losing three years of their life due to the side effects of air pollution — a figure that is in fact higher than that caused by smoking.

However, the study also found that if fossil fuel emissions are reduced to zero over a short period of time, humans can gain more than a year of their life back.

Previous research also found that 8.8m worldwide early deaths occurred throughout the year, double the figures of previous findings.

The loss of life expectancy triggered by air pollution is significantly higher than other major risk factors, including smoking, according to co-author Prof Jos Lelieveld of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.

Prof Thomas Munzel, of the University Medical Centre Mainz in Germany and co-author of the study raises concern, declaring that 91% of the world’s population breathes polluted air, and with particularly high numbers across Europe, emissions need to be reduced significantly.

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