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Air Pollution Causes 'Huge' Reduction in Intelligence, Study Reveals (theguardian.com)
Air pollution causes a "huge" reduction in intelligence, according to new research, indicating that the damage to society of toxic air is far deeper than the well-known impacts on physical health. From a report: The research was conducted in China but is relevant across the world, with 95% of the global population breathing unsafe air. It found that high pollution levels led to significant drops in test scores in language and arithmetic, with the average impact equivalent to having lost a year of the person's education. "Polluted air can cause everyone to reduce their level of education by one year, which is huge," said Xi Chen at Yale School of Public Health in the US, a member of the research team. "But we know the effect is worse for the elderly, especially those over 64, and for men, and for those with low education. If we calculate [the loss] for those, it may be a few years of education."
The damage in intelligence was worst for those over 64 years old, with serious consequences, said Chen: "We usually make the most critical financial decisions in old age." Rebecca Daniels, from the UK public health charity Medact, said: "This report's findings are extremely worrying." [...] The new work, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analysed language and arithmetic tests conducted as part of the China Family Panel Studies on 20,000 people across the nation between 2010 and 2014. The scientists compared the test results with records of nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide pollution.
The damage in intelligence was worst for those over 64 years old, with serious consequences, said Chen: "We usually make the most critical financial decisions in old age." Rebecca Daniels, from the UK public health charity Medact, said: "This report's findings are extremely worrying." [...] The new work, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analysed language and arithmetic tests conducted as part of the China Family Panel Studies on 20,000 people across the nation between 2010 and 2014. The scientists compared the test results with records of nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide pollution.
It explained crime in many cities and how it was reduced after lead was removed from fuel. Criminals with a reduced IQ due to pollution couldn't see the future consequences of their actions.
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Really? Deprive them of imported fuel, fertilizers, and pesticides, vehicles and other machinery, etc. and I bet you most would have a very rude awakening as to just how self-sufficient they really are. Better off than city dwellers no doubt, but it'd still be mighty bleak and a lot of folks wouldn't make it.
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My experience doesn't line up. I've lived in large Australian and Asian cities, and in small Australian towns. One town in particular was full of ignorant people and the average intelligence was definitely lower than in the cities. People in country towns are less welcoming, worse gossips, more likely to hold grudges. People in cities are exposed to more variety of people and ideas, and more open-minded and educated on the whole.