Asia air pollution
deaths to rise
Air pollution in
Asia, which already kills at least 800,000 people each year, will likely lead
to even higher death rates as the region’s air quality worsens, an environmental
group warned.
Energy consumption
and rising vehicle emissions amid Asia’s rapid economic growth are the main
driving force behind the region’s increasingly acute air pollution, according
to air quality group Clean Air Asia.
“What we are worrying
is that we are seeing the PM10 concentration (level) is on the rise again,” the
group’s executive director Sophie Punte told a regional conference on air
pollution in Hong Kong.
“Seven out of 10
cities in developing Asia are breathing air that is harmful to their health,”
she told 600 environmentalists and government officials gathered at the “Better
Air Quality” conference organised by the group.
PM10 are air
particles that are 10 micrometres, or 10 millionths of a metre (0.0004 of an
inch), across.
The group says air
pollution will rise as the number of vehicles in Asia is expected to exceed one
billion by 2035, while its fuel consumption and resulting carbon dioxide
emissions will grow by 400 percent compared to its 2005 levels.
A World Health
Organization study in 2008 found 800,000 out of 1.3 million premature deaths
each year due to air pollution are in Asia, and experts warn the figure could
rise if no urgent action is taken.
“Our concern is that
as pollution begins to rise, the toll -- which is already significant -- will
start to escalate again,” US-based Health Effects Institute vice chairman
Robert O’Keefe said.
O’Keefe, who is also
Clean Air Asia’s trustees board chairman, said research had shown the deaths
attributed to air pollution could double by 2050 if “business is as usual”.
Asian countries like
China -- which suffers from industrial pollution, increasing traffic and lax
protection measures -- has come under pressure in recent years to tighten its
air quality standards.
In Hong Kong, where
its famed skyline is often covered in smog, the government has vowed to cut
emissions from power plants and phase out polluting diesel vehicles as part of
an ongoing effort to tackle air pollution. - AFP
