FINANCIAL TIMES: China’s air pollution has cut life expectancy by an average of 5.5 years in the north of the country and caused higher rates of lung cancer, heart attacks and strokes, according to a groundbreaking study.
The worsening toxic smog in northern China became an issue of national concern after air pollution spiked to record levels in Beijing in January, prompting worried citizens to stock up on air filters and face masks. Pollution domes, which provide filtered air for sports activities, are also increasingly common…
Using decades of pollution data from across China, the new study, co-authored by professors from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, Tsinghua University and Peking University in Beijing, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, calculates that air pollution in the north caused the loss of 2.5bn years of aggregate human life expectancy during the 1990s… (more)
