2016 Updated estimates from WHO
Sept. 27, 2016 ~ Country estimates on air pollution exposure and health impact, WHO.
Key findings (as interpreted by climateye)
- Air pollution causes 6.5 million premature deaths worldwide (2012), 11.6% (1 in 9) of total global deaths
- Air pollution has overtaken tobacco use (10%, 6 million) as the leading preventable cause of death
- Air pollution is the major cause of climate change and the number one environmental cause of human deaths
- Air pollution kills more people annually worldwide than road accidents, violence, falls, fires and wars combined (5 million)
- 92% of the world’s population live in places that do not meet the WHO health standard for outdoor air quality
- 4.3 million deaths attributable to indoor air pollution. 3.7 million deaths attributable to outdoor air pollution. Note: Because some deaths may be due to both, it is not possible to add up the two figures to obtain the total. Thus it was concluded 6.5 million deaths from both combined in 2012.
- Indoor: Solid fuels for cooking and heating are the main cause, and nearly 3 billion poor people rely on wood, animal dung, charcoal, crop wastes and coal which are burned in highly polluting simple stoves or open fires.
- Article – Part 1: Air pollution emerges as a top killer globally, IPS
- Article – Part 2: Actions needed urgently to tackle air pollution, IPS
- Report – Country estimates on air pollution exposure / health impact, WHO
2014 Estimates from WHO
March 25, 2014 ~ In new estimates, WHO reports that in 2012 around 7 million people died – one in eight of total global deaths – as a result of air pollution exposure. This finding more than doubles previous estimates and confirms that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk.
2012 DARA Climate Vulnerability Monitor, 2nd Edition
Sept. 26, 2012 ~ The 2012 DARA Climate Vulnerability Monitor, 2nd Edition: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of a Hot Planet, is the most comprehensive assessment of the impacts of the global climate crisis ever compiled. From the website homepage:
…(The report) reveals that climate change has already held back global development and inaction is a leading global cause of death. Harm is most acute for poor and vulnerable groups but no country is spared either the costs of inaction or the benefits of an alternative path.
Commissioned by the world’s most vulnerable countries and backed by high-level and technical panels, the new Monitor estimates human and economic impacts of climate change and the carbon economy for 184 countries in 2010 and 2030, across 34 indicators.
“This second edition of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor is the splash of cold water we desperately need to awaken us from our climate change complacency. It highlights the terrible injustice we do to millions of the world’s poor if we fail to respond and provides both the social and the economic justification for an immediate and bold response to the problem of climate change.” ~ Robert Glasser, Secretary General, CARE International (Read his article: Climate crisis already causing unprecedented damage to global economy — Inaction to kill 100 million by 2030)
Key findings (as interpreted by climateye)
- RIGHT NOW, 5 million people (including 1,000 children per day) killed each year
- 4.5 million from carbon pollution / economy / air pollution, 400,000 due to hunger and communicable diseases aggravated by climate breakdown
- Anticipated to reach 100 million in total by 2030 — 6 million per year, 700 million from climate breakdown impacts. Note: Previous estimates were: at least 300,000 per year (2009 Climate Change Human Impact Report), and 150,000 per year (2007 IPCC report, which, along with numerous other shortcomings, did not account for heat waves, crop losses, insect infestation, disease increases, etc.).
- 90% of the victims are in the world’s poorest, ‘developing’ nations — those least culpable and least able to cope
- RIGHT NOW, these impacts already lower global output by $1.2 trillion per year / 1.6% of world GDP (gross domestic product)
- Losses could double to 3.2% of global GDP by 2030 — and in developing countries, already at 7%, losses could grow to 11%
- Anticipated economic losses from inaction dwarf costs to prevent worst outcomes
- Report – 2012 Climate Vulnerability Monitor, 2nd Edition
- Executive summary – 2012 Climate Vulnerability Monitor, 2nd Edn, DARA (PDF)
- Article – Climate change already damaging global economy, F. Harvey, Guardian
- Article – Climate change, carbon economy killing 5 million a year, AlertNet
- Article – Climate change kills 400,000 a year, M. Hertsgaard, The Daily Beast
- Article – Putting climate change in the budget will save lives / $, Suzuki, HuffPost
- Article – Latest climate signs should jolt leaders into action, CDKN.org
- Article – Global warming already causing loss of life, damage to economy, HP
- Article – Climate crisis already causing unprecedented damage to global economy — Inaction to kill 100 million by 2030, R. Glasser, CARE
- 2010 Climate Vulerability Monitor (First Edition), DARA
2009 Climate Change Human Impact Report, GHF
In 2009, the Climate Change Human Impact Report, the first comprehensive study focused on adverse effects of climate change on human society.
Key findings (as interpreted by climateye)
- Hundreds of millions suffer the consequences of climate change impacts NOW – their lives lost or livelihoods undermined or destroyed
- 4 billion (60% of the world’s population!) are vulnerable
- ‘Developing’ countries bear 90% of the burden, but least responsible for the causes
- 99% of deaths linked to climate change occur in ‘developing’ countries
- Current adaptation efforts woefully inadequate, NEED TO BE SCALED UP 100 times
- The findings are very conservative, true human impact will be FAR MORE SEVERE
(From 2009, click map to enlarge and read more)
From 2012, click here to Interact with the Carbon Map at CarbonMap.org
More
- Report – Human Impact Report: Anatomy of a Silent Crisis (PDFs), May 29, 2009
- Op-ed – This Silent Suffering, The Guardian, Op-ed, R. Pachauri, May 29, 2009
- Article – Global Warming Causes 300,000 Deaths a Year, J. Vidal, Guardian
- Website – Interactive Carbon Map with the Carbon Map, CarbonMap.org
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