Reflection
India and China both tie for dead last in terms of populations affected by poor air quality. Nearly the entire population of both countries is exposed to harmful particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, known as PM2.5, which can penetrate human lung and blood tissue and contribute to lung disease and premature death. The 2014 EPI reveals that 1.78 billion people are currently exposed to PM2.5 levels 250 percent higher than that threshold deemed “safe” by the WHO. More shockingly, 3.87 billion people worldwide – almost half of the global population – live in areas that exceed this threshold. Trends over the last decade show the problem is quickly getting worse. Industry and the transport sector, which are the primary sources of air pollution, have grown particularly fast in emerging economies like China, India and Brazil.
As pollution continues to rise the quality of our air begins to become more toXic holding carcinogens and making many people sick. With dangerous air pollution in other parts of the world, narrow attention on just China, India or China versus India is problematic. It contributes to diplomatic noise while distracting useful investigations into a global problem that is killing a lot of people – and not just in the developing world. They think that the problem will be fixed without their help, but in reality we all need to pitch in. We can do nothing individually, but we can do everything together. We bring the pollution in, we are responsible for taking it out.
India and China both tie for dead last in terms of populations affected by poor air quality. Nearly the entire population of both countries is exposed to harmful particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, known as PM2.5, which can penetrate human lung and blood tissue and contribute to lung disease and premature death. The 2014 EPI reveals that 1.78 billion people are currently exposed to PM2.5 levels 250 percent higher than that threshold deemed “safe” by the WHO. More shockingly, 3.87 billion people worldwide – almost half of the global population – live in areas that exceed this threshold. Trends over the last decade show the problem is quickly getting worse. Industry and the transport sector, which are the primary sources of air pollution, have grown particularly fast in emerging economies like China, India and Brazil.
As pollution continues to rise the quality of our air begins to become more toXic holding carcinogens and making many people sick. With dangerous air pollution in other parts of the world, narrow attention on just China, India or China versus India is problematic. It contributes to diplomatic noise while distracting useful investigations into a global problem that is killing a lot of people – and not just in the developing world. They think that the problem will be fixed without their help, but in reality we all need to pitch in. We can do nothing individually, but we can do everything together. We bring the pollution in, we are responsible for taking it out.