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Diesel Cars Contribute To 5,000 Premature Deaths a Year In Europe, Says Study (phys.org)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Emissions from diesel cars rigged to appear eco-friendly may be responsible for 5,000 air pollution deaths per year in Europe alone, according to a study published on Monday. The numbers are in line with previous assessments of deaths due to the so-called "Dieselgate" scandal, which erupted when carmaker Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to cheating on vehicle emissions tests. Many other carmakers have since fallen under suspicion. The researchers from Norway, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands calculated that about 10,000 deaths in Europe per year can be attributed to small particle pollution from light duty diesel vehicles (LDDVs). Almost half of these would have been avoided if emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from diesel cars on the road had matched levels measured in the lab. If diesel cars emitted as little NOx as petrol ones, almost 4,000 of the 5,000 premature deaths would have been avoided, said the authors. The countries with the heaviest burden are Italy, Germany, and France, the team added, "resulting from their large populations and high share of diesel cars in their national fleets." Touted as less polluting, the share of diesel cars in Europe rose fast compared to petrol since the 1990s, and now comprise about half the fleet. There are more than 100 million diesel cars in Europe today, twice as many as in the rest of the world together, said the study authors. Diesel engines emit less planet-warming carbon dioxide than petrol ones, but significantly more NOx. The study has been published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

6 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. The article is bullshit by grungeman · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Not sure about the study, but the author of the article clearly has no clue what he/she is writing about. First the article says "10,000 deaths in Europe per year can be attributed to small particle pollution..." and then it continues "Almost half of these would have been avoided if emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from diesel cars on the road had matched levels measured in the lab".

    These two types of emission must be viewed separately. While small particles are solid particles in the size of less than 10 m, while NOx is an odorless gas. Both can be harmful, but in completely different ways. If you reduce the NOx emission, it will not reduce the healt impact of small particles in any way.

    The author should read a book before writing about a subject that he/she doesn't understand.

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  2. Does VW get any credit for this criminality? by ITRambo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Does their deceit about the emissions levels on VW diesel engines, that contributes to deaths, lead to any criminal charges? Nope. Just fines and a round of golf. Corporations have no true accountability when the leaders get to go home and a lonely engineer is set up to take the fall.

  3. Hate to say it... by skam240 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I hate to say it but so what? I tend to be on the left environmentally but that statistic is not compelling at all. Five thousand people out of the hundreds of millions in Europe die early deaths because of diesel emissions? Far more deaths can be attributed to all kinds of every day things then that.

    I think significantly altering our atmosphere is a bad idea and I like clean air and all but that statistic isn't compelling in the least.

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  4. Re: Ha, yeah right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Doesn't matter, these myths are about scary foreigners. The details are irrelevant.

  5. Re: Ha, yeah right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Of those three terms, I think "illegal alien" probably is the most accurate.

    They aren't "immigrants". Immigrants voluntarily go through the legal immigration process of their destination nation, even if this is costs a lot of money and takes a long time. They would never pay smugglers to help them violate the border security controls of their destination nation, for example. They would never use fake IDs, as well.

    They aren't "asylum seekers" or "refugees" either. Asylum seekers and refugees have safety, rather than movement, as their primary goal. They stop as soon as they reach safety. In the case of Syrians, this would mean a safe place within Syria (they do exist!), or the furthest they'd get is Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, or Lebanon. They would never end up in places as far away as France, Germany, or even the UK.

    They are "illegal aliens". They intentionally go out of their way to ignore and bypass any and all immigration processes that exist in their destination. If their destination is several countries away, they'll violate immigration laws repeatedly. Sometimes they'll pay smugglers to assist them with intentionally breaking immigration law, acquiring fake ID, and otherwise violating border controls. They are foreigners who have intentionally entered another nation illegally, hence the term "illegal aliens".

    Intentionally misleading terms like "immigrants", "asylum seekers" and "refugees" are used by people with a political agenda to push, and who want to benefit from the social disruption and harm caused by allowing unskilled, unemployable, criminal third-worlders into civilized nations.

    The term "illegal alien" is used by honest people describing the reality of a dangerous situation.

  6. Meta-analysis by sycodon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is there anything more useless than a Meta-analysis?

    How many times have eggs been bad for you, then good again?

    Butter?

    Fats?

    Etc?

    Brought to you by Meta-analysis.

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