Nine million people died in 2019 because of pollution, a new study has revealed, surpassing the annual global tolls for war, malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, drugs and alcohol.
The research – published as an update to the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health – has identified pollution as the largest environmental risk factor for disease and premature death, responsible for 16 per cent of all deaths globally. Overall, air, chemical and water pollution accounted for one in six deaths worldwide.
Despite the well-documented effects of pollution on mortality rates, little has been done to address this public health crisis, with public attention and funding only seeing a minimal increase in the last four years.
Since the commission’s last analysis in 2015, the number of deaths from pollution sources associated with extreme poverty – such as unclean water and household air pollution – have decreased. However, these reductions are offset by an increase in the...