Mortality from air pollution in Europe is twice as high as previous estimates

Scientists insist: air pollution kills 800,000 people a year in Europe, it’s time to stop burning fossil fuels.

According to a study published in the European Heart Journal, twice as many people die from air pollution in Europe than previously thought.

Using a new method of modelling the impact of different sources of air pollution on mortality, the researchers found that it had resulted in 790,000 additional deaths across Europe, of which 659,000 were attributable to 28 States of the European Union. Between 40 and 80% of the causes of these deaths were related to heart attacks and strokes, so air pollution caused twice as many deaths from cardiovascular diseases than from respiratory diseases, which were taken into account in 2015 studies. Continue reading →