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Fossil Fuel Cuts Would Reduce Early Deaths, Illness, Study Says
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Fossil Fuel Cuts Would Reduce Early Deaths, Illness, Study Says
Research claims that slowing gas and oil burning
in four major cities may do more than halt global warming
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by
Aparna Surendran
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Reducing air pollution in just four of the world's largest cities--New
York; Mexico City; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Santiago, Chile--could prevent
64,000 premature deaths and 37 million lost workdays over the next
two decades, according to research that examines the health effects
of the use of fossil fuels.
A curtain of heavy smog envelopes the Latin American Tower,
left, and surrounding Mexico City skyline in this Dec. 4, 1998
file photo. As nations debate the future effect on the climate
of burning fossil fuels, a study appearing Friday, Aug. 17,
2001 in the journal Science, finds no question that air pollution
from exhaust pipes and smoke stacks already is killing people
worldwide. In the study, researchers examined the health effects
of pollution from fossil-fuels on the rate of death in four
cities - Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City, Santiago, Chile; and
New York. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
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Worldwide, the burning of coal, oil and other fossil fuels leads to
pollution that can result in elevated rates of infant mortality, asthma,
cardiovascular problems and respiratory ailments and could cause millions
of avoidable deaths worldwide over two decades, according to the new
work, which reviewed more than 1,000 scientific studies.
The review is published in the current issue of Science. Worldwide
use of fossil fuels has been a major topic of debate in recent years
because of long-term concerns about global warming. Many scientists
believe that an increased amount of carbon dioxide--produced whenever
coal, oil or natural gas is burned--is the chief factor in the "greenhouse
effect" warming of the Earth's climate. If so, reducing use of such
fuels is vital, experts on global warming argue.
Also, "the benefits of lowering emissions are immediate" because many
of the gases emitted when fuels are burned are also pollutants, said
George Thurston, one of the review's authors and an associate professor
of environmental medicine at the New York University School of Medicine.
"Universal studies have shown when air pollution levels go up, you
get an increase in the numbers of deaths and hospital admissions,
missed days at work and school, and other adverse effects," Thurston
said.
Much of the discussion on climate is about what will happen 50years
from now, said Devra Davis, the review's lead author and a visiting
professor in public policy at Carnegie Mellon University's H. John
Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management.
"This review talks about what is going to happen tomorrow," she said.
In addition to the study about pollution in the four cities, another
study examined in the review suggested that reducing emissions from
coal-fired power plants in the United States would save as many as
18,700 lives by reducing deaths from bronchial problems, heart disease
and other ailments.
A third study indicated that air pollution from traffic causes more
deaths than do traffic accidents.
A fourth study reported that alternative transportation policies initiated
during the busy 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta not only reduced vehicle
exhaust and air pollutants such as ozone by about 30%, they also decreased
the number of acute asthma attacks by 40% and pediatric emergency
admissions by about 19%.
Some policy experts disagreed with the review's suggestions.
The idea of reducing the use of fossil fuels to improve health is
"twisted science," said Myron Ebell, director of global warming policy
at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Decreasing the use of cheap fossil fuels would result in higher energy
prices and lower public access to energy, he said. That, in turn,
could have a "huge impact on human health," particularly in poor countries,
Ebell said.
Others, however, praised the work.
"I think this is a very important paper that makes a very significant
contribution to understanding damage of greenhouse gas emission on
our future," said Dr. Paul Epstein, associate director of the Center
for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School.
Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times
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