NEW DELHI (AP) — Environmental pollution — from filthy air to contaminated water — is killing more people every year than all war and violence in the world. More than smoking, hunger or natural disasters. More than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.
A major study released Thursday in The Lancet medical journal says one out of every six premature deaths in the world in 2015 — about 9 million — could be attributed to disease from toxic exposure. The financial cost from pollution-related death, sickness and welfare is equally massive, the report says, costing some $4.6 trillion in annual losses — or about 6.2 percent of the global economy.
The report marks the first attempt to pull together data on disease and death caused by all forms of pollution combined.
