Every breath matters — and for millions of people, fossil fuel pollution is making each one count less. A major study found that fossil fuel air pollution caused 8.7 million premature deaths globally in 2018. That’s 1 in every 5 deaths worldwide. It’s also double what scientists previously estimated.
The main culprit is tiny particles called PM2.5. These come from diesel trucks, gasoline cars, and coal-fired power plants. Once inhaled, they go deep into the lungs. They can stay in the air for one to two weeks and travel long distances. Researchers used chemical transport models to track where these particles go and who’s breathing them.
The health damage is wide-ranging. About 52% of deaths came from cardiometabolic conditions. Ischaemic heart disease alone made up 30%. Stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease each accounted for 16%. In the US, around 350,000 people died prematurely. The hardest-hit states included Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia. In Canada, fossil fuel pollution caused 13% of premature adult deaths, with Ontario hitting over 17%.
Most deaths happened in China and India. Researchers noted that data from Asia and Africa isn’t as complete, so those numbers may not tell the full story. Still, at least 5.13 million excess deaths were directly linked to fossil fuel ambient pollution.
Global CO2 emissions are estimated at around 37–38 billion tons in recent years. Coal, oil, and gas burning releases both CO2 and PM2.5. Scientists say the emissions data lines up with the 2018 death toll findings. The death toll from fossil fuel pollution is roughly equal to the number of deaths attributed to smoking each year.
When mapped to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, fossil fuel pollution strikes at the very bottom — the physiological level. Clean air is a basic survival need. When PM2.5 clogs lungs and CO2 drives climate changes that threaten food and water, it’s not just an environmental issue. It’s a human survival issue. In India alone, fossil fuel pollution was responsible for nearly 2.5 million deaths among people over age 14 in 2018, representing more than 30% of total deaths in that age group.
Researchers say that even smaller reductions in fossil fuel emissions could prevent a significant number of deaths. Air pollution’s broader toll is staggering, with 8.1 million deaths attributed to it annually, making it the second leading risk factor for death worldwide. The science’s making it clear that it’s a public health crisis, not just a climate one.
References
- https://www.marketplace.org/story/2021/02/09/fossil-fuel-pollution-killing-8-7-million-people-year-study-says
- https://hsph.harvard.edu/climate-health-c-change/news/fossil-fuel-air-pollution-responsible-for-1-in-5-deaths-worldwide/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce2YtMGCQaI
- https://atmos.earth/political-landscapes/fossil-fuels-air-pollution-study-premature-death/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38030155/
- https://earth.org/air-pollution-deaths-2018/
