Air Pollution Kills 3.3 Million People Every Year, Might Double To 6.6 Million By 2050

With air pollution leading to 3.3 million premature deaths globally every year, the number may increase to 6.6 million by 2050, according to a comprehensive study by researchers from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and Harvard University, according to Associated Press  reports.

"This is an astounding number," lead researcher Jos Lelieveld of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry told CNN. "In some countries air pollution is actually a leading cause of death, and in many countries it is a major issue."

The main reason for pollution is burning wood and coal for cooking and heating homes, which leads to a third of all air pollution-related deaths everywhere.

"Residential energy use is an inefficient form of fuel combustion that causes a lot of smoke, and is the foremost source of premature mortality in Asia," Lelieveld said. Seventy-five percent of all air pollution mortalities occur in Asia.

In Europe as well as in industrial nations such as the U.S., Japan, Russia and South Korea, the main reason for air pollution is farming, surprisingly!

Nuclear plant emissions or car exhaust are not as worrying as thought, but ammonia from fertilizers blended with sulfates and nitrates from the environment, gets converted into soot particles, leading to air pollution-linked deaths.

"We were very surprised, but in the end it makes sense," Lelieveld said.

The study makes it clear that stroke and heart attacks lead to 75 percent of deaths due to air pollution. On the other hand, respiratory illnesses and lung cancer lead to 25 percent, according to Live Science.

It is a "global atmospheric chemistry model" that has helped the scientists to arrive at a solution. "By integrating many global atmospheric quality models with satellite data and information on health, population and air quality sensors," they have created an extremely detailed data on air pollution reasons and deaths.

The study shows that China has the maximum number of air pollution deaths with an annual rate of 1.4 million premature mortalities. India ranks second with 645,000 deaths, even as Pakistan slips to the third position, with 110,000 air pollution-related premature deaths annually.

"If this growing premature mortality by air pollution is to be avoided, intensive air-quality-control measures will be needed, particularly in South and East Asia," Lelieveld told Live Science.

The study was published in the Sept. 16 online issue of Nature.