A new study conducted in Japan has revealed that the world’s top economies are responsible for the deaths of almost two million people in poor countries.
A team led by Keisuke Nansai, an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies at Nagoya University in Japan, conducted a study to find the consumer responsibility of 19 of the 20 G20 countries for global mortality due to primary and secondary PM2.5 particles.
“Most of the people [are] now getting to understand, okay, a lot of consumption [produces] greenhouse gas. This paper says, okay, a lot of consumption also leads to 4 million deaths in the world due to [particulate air pollution]. But the G-20 has 2 million deaths’ responsibility,” Nansai said.
The study looked at the link between trade and the consumption of goods in G20 nations and PM2.5 exposure in 199 countries and it was found out that consumption in the G20 nations had led to 1.983 million premature deaths in 2010. Additionally, 78,600 of these deaths were infants.
The consumption of goods in the USA and ten other G20 countries had also led to 50 percent premature deaths connected with PM2.5 in other nations that are not of the G20.
PM2.5 particles are a byproduct of fossil fuel burning and are extremely dangerous when inhaled. They can reach the respiratory tract, penetrate deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream, and cause severe damage.
Francesca Dominici at Harvard University said that PM2.5 levels can be decreased if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.
“Air pollution and greenhouse gases share the same emission sources, and both affect the most vulnerable,” she added.
