Air pollution: the silent killer

If every country reduced air pollution to meet international health guidelines, the global average life expectancy would increase from roughly 72.0 to 74.2 years – more than the 1.9-year increase from eliminating firsthand smoking – per a new study published yesterday.

🔢 By the numbers... More than 97% of the world’s population lives in areas where air pollution exceeds recommended levels, per the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago’s annual Air Quality Life Index.

• Residents of South Asia lose an estimated five years of life from air pollution, on average. Europeans lose 0.7 years, and Americans lose just ⅕ of a year.
• India has accounted for ~44% of the world's increase in air pollution since 2013, while China has reduced its air pollution by 40% over that same period, bringing its estimated cost down from 4.6 to 2.6 years of life.
• Besides smoking, air pollution is also reportedly more harmful to global life expectancies than alcohol and drug use (nine months), unsafe water and sanitation (seven months), HIV and AIDS (four months), and malaria (three months).