14 DAY TRIAL // People who lived in northern China in the 1990s are likely to die over 5 years earlier than they would if it were not for the worrying levels of air pollution that they were exposed to.
A new study published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences documents the impact of the practice of burning coal for energy and heating on public health north of the Huai River.
The study concludes that 500 million people in these Chinese regions will lose a total of 2.5 billion years of life expectancy as a result of their breathing in particulate matter and harmful chemical compounds.
“This paper's findings suggest that an arbitrary Chinese policy that greatly increases total suspended particulates (TSPs) air pollution is causing the 500 million residents of Northern China to lose more than 2.5 billion life years of life expectancy,” the researchers write in the Abstract for their paper.
The Chinese policy that the specialists are referring to is the Chinese government's decision to provide free coal for fuel boilers up and running in the north, Mongabay explains.
This policy was intended to help people in the country's north by providing them with heating resources.
Unfortunately, the policy eventually upped local air particulate levels, causing them to be roughly 55% higher than the ones recorded in south China.
It was in place from 1950 until 1980, but it has greatly affected the health and life expectancy of people living in this part of China in the 1990s.
“It's not that the Chinese government set out to cause this. This was the unintended consequence of a policy that must have appeared quite sensible.”
“There are no other policies that are different north or south of the river, so far as we could tell,” MIT economist Michael Greenstone pointed out.
The specialists hope that, once the Chinese government learns about their findings, it will agree to roll out measures intended to curb present-day use of coal for heating and energy.
“What this paper helps reveal is that there may be immediate, local reasons for China and other developing countries to rely less on fossil fuels.”
“The planet's not going to solve the greenhouse-gas problem without the active participation of China. This might give them a reason to act today,” Michael Greenstone commented on his and his colleagues’ discoveries.