The World's Fastest-Growing Cause of Death Is Pollution From Car Exhaust

pigrabbitbear writes "Cars, once again, are killing us. They're killing us in crashes and accidents, yes, and they're encouraging us to grow obese and then killing us a little more slowly. But, more than ever before, they're killing us with their pollution. Particulate air pollution, along with obesity, is now the two fastest-growing causes of death in the world, according to a new study published in the Lancet. The study found that in 2010, 3.2 million people died prematurely from the air pollution – particularly the sooty kind that spews from the exhaust pipes of cars and trucks. And of those untimely deaths, 2.1 million were in Asia, where a boom in car use has choked the streets of India and China's fast-expanding cities with smog."

Comments

I knew Ford Prefect was correct!

[ColdWetDog]

Cars want to be dominant form of intelligent life on the planet!

Just as soon as they get the bugs out of the in-dash entertainment systems, we're toast!

Not just cars

[ickleberry]

In Asia there are a lot of old 2-stroke powered vehicles about, each one of them pumps out up to 50x more pollutant than a relatively new car. Combined with heavy traffic means lots of them idling in the street at any one time. Many of these engines are only a couple of horsepower and cost only a few $100 to replace with a new 4-stroke model but people don't have this kind of money to spare so they are stuck with these old polluting engines.

Back in the time before carbon offsetting was dismissed as 'buying indulgences' one of the things offsetting companies spent money on was buying 4-stroke petrol engines (or less polluting 2-strokes) to put the old 2-stroke engines out of circulation.

Re:Not just cars

[TubeSteak]

Because of all the pollution, China is pushing electric hard.
They've failed to meet their sales targets so far, but the Chinese government has shown it will burn money to achieve long term goals.

And since battery technology is the biggest obstacle to lower prices, a Chinese company is buying battery maker A123 Systems.

Why?

[drainbramage]

Is is because of the accent?

Re:More congestion = more pollution

[i kan reed]

Because evidence indicates that roadway expansions do not reduce congestion, but increase it in the medium term: study. You know what reduced congestion in my city? Mass transit. They put in a train and more buses, and the congestion in the area dropped substantially.

Re:More congestion = more pollution

[RobbieCrash]

Exactly, stop driving and get on the fucking bus or train. Less cars is the solution, not more roads.

Re:And I'm the God Damned Easter Bunny

[pr0t0]

Ever been out of the United States, Floppy? Try Mexico City, Mexico; Ahwaz, Iran; or Linfen, China. Those cities will turn your freshly showered pure-white cottontail black before the end of the day! Regrettably, many countries do not have the same type of increasing restrictions on auto-exhaust and factory emissions that the United States requires to better air quality. Further, this is as much about heat as it is about exhaust. Heat traps airborne pollutants. Heat combined with growing populations, massive urbanization and industrialization, and ever more cars on the road; yeah it's going to lead to more deaths due to respiratory problems, cancers, and other diseases.

It's a shock to no one but you, Bucky.

Re:And I'm the God Damned Easter Bunny

[blueg3]

deaths from car exhaust are probably at their historical low

Considering history goes back well before the invention of the automobile, or even of the internal combustion or steam engines, I'd say that it's guaranteed that deaths from car exhaust are not at a historical low.

Re:Industrialization is quickly coming

[jimbolauski]

The average American one way car commute is 23 minutes the average one way public transit commute is 53. Only in large cities is the car commute longer and public transit commute shorter. The US unlike many European countries is far less dense making public transportation unsustainable in many of its cities. If buses were forced to make stops within a half mile of all places of employment they would be a serious contributor to pollution as they would be running empty the majority of the time.

Re:Diesel Kills

[afidel]

Diesel has 11% more BTU's per L than standard gasoline at average temperature and pressure, most diesel models get significantly better than an 11% improvement over their gasoline siblings. Much of this has to do with the fact that the diesel creates so much better torque at low RPM's that the manufacturer can install a smaller, less powerful engine without making the vehicle feel like a complete dog. As an example the 148HP CX5 diesel does 119g/km versus the 160HP gas engine which does 139g/km, an improvement of 16% and the diesel is significantly more fun to drive.