Please invest in Our Daily Planet today, by making a one time or monthly contribution.
We do not charge our readers a subscription fee for our content. We want to continue to grow our readership, particularly among millennials and public servants. Voluntary contributions from readers will help us employ interns and freelance journalists, expand our content, and reach a larger audience.
If you make a contribution of $150 or more, you will become an official “Friend of the Planet” and receive a Friend of the Planet T-shirt or water bottle.
Our Daily Planet is a daily morning email (M-F) to keep you informed of the stories shaping our environment. If these issues matter to you, we’d like to be the best ten minutes of your morning.
New research suggests that the effects of pollution from burning coal and gasoline may be even more deadly than many other health threats. A new study has found that 8.7 million people around the world die each year from breathing polluted air caused by fossil fuels. This number is double the previous estimate of fine-particle pollution mortality, and three times the combined number of deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in 2018. These particles — tiny, poisonous molecules called PM2.5— are small enough to creep into the lungs, aggravating asthma and even causing lung cancer, coronary heart disease, strokes, and early death. The effects of fossil fuel pollution are even more acute in the pandemic, due to a link between pollution and COVID-19 deaths.
Why this Matters: This study — published in Environmental Research, as a collaboration between researchers from Harvard University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Leicester, and University College London— suggests that fossil fuel pollution accounted for 18% of total deaths in 2018. Most of the deaths — 62% — are in China (3.9 million) and India (2.5 million).Eloise Marais, a co-author of the study working for the University of Leicester, said in a statement: “We can’t in good conscience continue to rely on fossil fuels when we know that there are such severe effects on health and viable, cleaner alternatives.”
How the Study Worked:
Researchers took a global 3D model of atmospheric chemistry to see local concentrations of PM2.5. This 3D model allowed the scientists to split the globe into a grid with rectangles as small as 31 miles by 37 miles, which helped them see pollution levels in much more granular detail. Moreover, they could distinguish between different sources of pollution, and focus the impact of pollution on places where people live.
Delegates attending the COP26 conference in Glasgow will get to see a very cool display during their stay. So cool, in fact, that it’s been frozen since 1765. Artist Wayne Binitie and scientists of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have retrieved an Antarctic time capsule containing the world’s purest air. The pocket of atmosphere was […]
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer The European Environment Agency (EEA) found that a majority of EU countries broke at least one air pollution limit last year — despite COVID-19 lockdowns. In addition, 17 EU countries failed to stay below ozone pollution targets, which directly influence global warming; and eight EU countries failed to stay […]
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer An Indonesian district court ruled yesterday that Indonesian President Joko Widodo has neglected Jakarta’s residents right to clean air. In a unanimous ruling in favor of the 32 residents who brought the case, the Central Jakarta District Court ordered Widodo, and six other top officials deemed negligent, to improve […]
Subscribe to the email that top lawmakers, renowned scientists, and thousands of concerned citizens turn to each morning for the latest environmental news and analysis.
Want the lastest climate news summarized for you each morning?
Our Daily Planet is your daily dose of the stories shaping our world and the ways that you can take action. From the climate crisis to the protection of biodiversity, if these issues matter to you then please subscribe & stay informed!
Your privacy is Important! We promise never to use your email address to send you spam or advertisements.