Air Pollution Causes 200,000 Early US Deaths: Study

Victims of air pollution typically die about a decade prematurely

Air pollution causes 200,000 early deaths in the U.S., according to a new MIT study, which also finds vehicle emissions as the biggest contributor to these premature deaths.

Researchers from MIT’s Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment have tracked ground-level emissions from multiple sources including vehicle tailpipes, industrial smokestacks, marine and rail operations, and commercial and residential heating throughout the United States, and found that the pollution causes about 200,000 early deaths each year.

Highlights from the report

• Road transportation are the most significant contributor to air pollution, causing 53,000 premature deaths.

• Power generation follows closely with 52,000 deaths

• California air pollution commits about 21,000 people to early deaths annually,

• The highest emissions-related mortality rate among 5,695 U.S. cities mapped was in Baltimore, where 130 out of every 100,000 residents likely die each year due to long-term exposure to air pollution.

This graphic shows the annual average concentrations of fine particulates from U.S. sources of combustion emissions from (a) electric power generation; (b) industry; (c) commercial and residential sources; (d) road transportation; (e) marine transportation; (f) rail transportation; (g) sum of all combustion sources; (h) all sources. Graphic: Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment/MIT

“In the past five to 10 years, the evidence linking air-pollution exposure to risk of early death has really solidified and gained scientific and political traction,” says Steven Barrett, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. “There’s a realization that air pollution is a major problem in any city, and there’s a desire to do something about it.”

The researchers have published their results in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

China Shrouded in Sand, Dust and PM

It’ll get a lot worse, before it’s all over!

Another major sandstorm hit large portions of northern and central China including the capital Beijing .

Original caption: Citizens are seen amid dust and sand in Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan Province, March 9, 2013. A sandstorm swept through Henan on Saturday, causing temperature drop and low visibility. (Xinhua/Zhao Peng). Image may be subject to copyright. More images…

•  It was the second sandstorm to hit China this year, following the February 28 massive sandstorm that originated in Gobi Desert, Mongolia.
• The sand and dust which buffeted Beijing, forced the temperatures to drop by up to 9 degree Celsius, said a report.
  
• “The wind and dusty weather changed the capital’s major air pollutant component from PM2.5, airborne particles measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, to PM10.”
• The average density of PM10 rose sharply starting μ Saturday, with the peak density reaching 1,000 mg per square meter around noon in western parts of downtown Beijing.
• The wort affected areas included Liaoning, Shandong and Hebei provinces, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as well as Tianjin Municipality in northern China, Henan province in central China, Sichuan province in SW  China, and Guangdong province on the South China Sea coast of the country.
  

Beijing Air Quality “Worse than SARS”

The poor air quality, according to a leading Chinese public health expert, is worse than SARS because nobody can escape it. Research suggests that air pollution can “raise the risk of cardio-respiratory death by 2 to 3 percent for every increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of pollutants.” Only 1 percent of China’s 560 million urban residents breathe air considered safe by the European Union, according to a 2007 World Bank study. A report released by China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection in November 2010 showed that “about a third of 113 cities failed to meet national air standards.” (http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/03/beijing-air-quality-worse-than-sars/)

China’s Soil Pollution: The “Silent Killer”

“About 40 percent of China’s agricultural land is irrigated with underground water, of which 90 percent is polluted, according to Liu Xin, a food and health expert and a member of an advisory body to parliament, who was quoted in the Southern Metropolitan Daily,” said a report.

Related Links

• Hazardous Smog Chokes Northern China  February 28, 2013
• Beijing Buried in Smog – Again! Posted on February 17, 2013
• Beijing Buried in Heavy Smog – Take 4 Posted on January 29, 2013
• Heavy Smog Entombs Beijing Again Posted on January 23, 2013
• Breathtaking Beijing  Posted on January 14, 2013
• Hazardous Air Warnings in Beijing as Landslide Kills Dozens in SW China  Posted on January 12, 2013

.

March 10, 2013 – DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,098 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,098 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

Hazardous Air Warnings in Beijing as Landslide Kills Dozens in SW China

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,155 Days Left 

[January 12, 2013] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,155 Days Left to the most Fateful Day in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Dangerous air pollution lingers in Beijing, as landslide kills 46 in SW China

Air quality indexes in Beijing were approaching 500 on Saturday, as monitoring stations in various parts of the Chinese capital warned the density of PM2.5 particulates had reached 700 micrograms per cubic meter.

An hour earlier, monitors at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing had recorded an off-the-chart air-quality reading of 728 and PM2.5 density of 845 micrograms per cubic meter, reports said.

• The air quality is regarded as ‘safe’ when the index is at 50 or lower, but hazardous for indexes between 301 and 500, when outdoor physical activities should be avoided.

• Beijing city government issued new rules last year under which all outdoor sports activities must cease and factories have to reduce production capacity when air-quality index exceeds 500.

• “Several other cities, including Tianjin on the coast east of Beijing and southern China’s Wuhan city, also reported severe pollution over the last several days.” AP reported.

• The authorities have blamed the the high concentration of air pollutants on dense fog and lack of wind.

Original caption: Visitors walk at the fog-enveloped Temple of Heaven in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 12, 2013. Heavy fog hit Beijing on Saturday. (Xinhua/Li Wen). More images…

Landslide in SW China’s Yunnan Province

The death toll from a landslide that buried a village in a mountainous region in southwest China’s Yunnan Province Friday climbed to 46, rescuers said.

• “The landslide hit the Zhaojiagou area of Gaopo Village, Zhenxiong County around 8:20 a.m. Friday. Zhenxiong is some 550 km northeast of the provincial capital, Kunming.”

• The victims included 27 adults and 19 children, according to the local authorities.

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Death from ‘Antifreeze’ in the Sky?

Dead jackdaws fall from the Swedish sky

Hundreds of dead jackdaws have fallen from the sky in the town of Falkoeping, Sweden, the local media reported.

Officials have cited a number of reasons for the deaths including “disease or poisoning.”

Animal Rescue chief Christer Olofsson holds a dead jackdaws in Falkoeping, Sweden. Photo Credit: AFP. Image may be subject to copyright.

The report comes fast on the heels of a another incident on New Year’s Eve  in the town of Beebe, Arkansas, where thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky.

U-S scientists said the blackbirds in Arkansas may have been affected by the celebratory fireworks.  However, there were no reports of fireworks or storms in Falkoeping prior to the deaths.

One of more than a record 5,000 blackbirds that fell in the town of Beebe, Arkansas on the New Year’s Eve. Photo Credit: AP. Image may be subject to copyright.

“The U.S. Geological Service’s website lists about 90 mass deaths of birds and other wildlife from June through Dec. 12. Five list deaths of at least 1,000 birds and another 12 show at least 500 dead birds.” LA Times reported.

Baffled?

“Hole Punch Clouds?”

Now see image below. The NASA caption reads:

Looking up on a chilly December morning in 2009, residents of rural West Virginia (southwest of Charleston) would have seen a halo of light bursting through the thin bank of clouds that hung overhead. The light was streaming through hole-punch clouds and canals, most likely created by passing airplanes. This image, taken by the Landsat-5 satellite on December 11, 2009, shows the unique conditions in which such holes form.

Hole Punch Clouds over West Virginia

Download large image (4 MB, JPEG). Source: NASA-EO

‘Antifreeze’ in the Sky?

The caption concludes

The surrounding cloud bank is made up of altocumulus clouds, sitting at an altitude of 2,000 to 7,000 meters (6,600 – 23,000 feet), where temperatures ranged between minus five and minus twenty degrees Celsius, according to radiosonde data taken nearby. Despite the chill, this image reveals that the clouds were made of water, not ice. [Emphasis added by FIRE-EARTH]

Full caption and reference available HERE.

Physics 101: Water freezes when cooled below 0°C (273.15K, 32°F) at standard atmospheric pressure, unless mixed with antifreeze.

See also

Second State Experiences Mass Bird Kill