Air Pollution Costs the World $ 8 Billion a Day

Global cost of fossil-fueled air pollution is $ 8 billion a day, or roughly 3.3% of global economic output, according to BGNES.

The report from the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (and the Greenpeace Branch in Southeast Asia) is the first to evaluate global air pollution costs, specifically by burning of oil, gas and coal.

"We have found that mainland China, the United States and India suffer the highest economic damage from fossil fuel air pollution worldwide - 0 billion, 0 billion and 0 billion a year," the report said.

Particulate matter discarded in fossil fuels causes premature deaths of 4.5 million people worldwide annually, including 1.8 million in China and one million in India, the researchers reveal.

The new data is in line with World Health Organization (WHO) estimates of 4.2 million deaths each year related to air pollution, mainly from heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections in children.

Living in the New Delhi area of India is like smoking 10 cigarettes a day, earlier studies have shown.

"Air pollution from fossil fuels is a threat to our health and our economies. It takes millions of lives and costs us trillions of dollars," a research specialist at air cleanliness at Greenpeace Southeast Asia said.

Global spending for 2018 was $ 2.9 trillion, the report estimates.

"But this is a problem we know how to solve: by switching to renewable energy, gradually eliminating diesel and gasoline vehicles and building public transport."

The report is 44 pages long.