WHO: Air Pollution Kills 2M Folks a Year

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2006/oct/05/100501277.html

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The World Health Organization on Thursday called on governments to improve air quality in their cities, saying air pollution prematurely kills two million people a year, with more than half the deaths in developing countries.

Reducing the kind of pollution known as PM10 - or particulate matter with particles of smaller than 10 micrometers - could save as many as 300,000 lives every year, according to a statement issued by the WHO's regional office in Manila.

PM10 pollution is caused primarily by the burning of fossil and other types of fuel. Its particles are too small to be filtered in the nose and throat, and they settle in the lungs where they cause health problems.

The WHO said that in many cities, the average annual levels of PM10 exceed 70 micrograms per cubic meter (yard) while recent new WHO guidelines called for lowering that level to less than 20 micrograms to prevent ill health.

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[Dead_Parrot]

1. 30 years from now...

We'll be looking at this thinking how lucky we were: to be living back in the good ol' days, when it was only 2,000,000 people a year dying from our bizzare fossil fuel fixation.

:(