Marin IJ used edited version of this AP story.
Air Pollution is killing us, scienteets warn
Greeenhouse gases called widespread health hazard
Study:
Pollution Is Killing Many
By PAUL RECER
AP Science Writer
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WASHINGTON (AP)
— More people are being killed by pollution from cars, trucks and other sources
than by traffic crashes, researchers estimate in a report that says cleaning up
would prolong the lives of thousands of people.
The
researchers, in a study in the journal Science, said that cutting greenhouse
gases in just four major cities — Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City; Santiago,
Chile and New York City — could save 64,000 lives over the next 20 years.
Greenhouse
gases, principally carbon dioxide or ozone, are those pollutants that tend to
trap the sun's heat in the atmosphere or to affect solar radiation.
``The message
in our study is that there are real and immediate health benefits'' in reducing
greenhouse gases, she said.
She said that
burning of fossils fuels, such as gasoline in cars or coal in power plants, can
create air pollutants such as ozone, airborne particles small enough to be
inhaled, carbon dioxide and other gases. The pollutants, said Davis, can cause
people to die prematurely from asthma, breathing disorders and heart disease.
``It is our
best estimate that more people are being killed by air pollution ... than from
traffic crashes,'' said Davis. ``There are more than a thousand studies from 20
countries all showing that you can predict a certain death rate based on the
amount of pollution.''
Dr. Russell V.
Luepker, a cardiologist and professor at the University of Minnesota, said that
air pollution is not recognized as a significant cause of heart disease in the
United States.
``It is not a
major factor in developing heart disease, but it does play a role in acute
episodes that can kill you,'' said Luepker, an expert designated by the
American Heart Association as a spokesman. ``More people either come to
emergency rooms or die of heart disease during pollution episodes,'' but the
pollution did not start the disease, he said.
Dr. Marian
Frieri, a professor of medicine and an asthma expert at State University of New
York at Stony Brook, said that air pollution can contribute to asthma
inflammation but is only one factor on top of another condition.
Davis and four
co-authors said that adopting greenhouse-gas abatement technologies now
available could prevent thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis and save
millions of days of restricted or lost work.
``We're not
talking about Buck Rogers-like, futuristic technologies,'' Davis said.
She said
although the study concentrated on just four cities that have a combined
population of 45 million, the conclusions probably could be applied to cities
worldwide.
Dr. Jonathan
Patz of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said the study by
Davis and her co-authors draws ``an important conclusion.''
``It shows that
there are significant health benefits to be had from reducing emissions from
the burning of fossil fuels,'' he said.
Carbon dioxide
and other gases from the burning of coal and oil have been blamed by many
researchers for warming of the climate. Some have predicted long-term and
varied global effects, including such phenomena as melting glaciers, rising sea
levels and recurring weather extremes.
On the Net:
Global warming:
http://www.ipcc.ch