14 DAY TRIAL // Drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions is bound to translate in the prevention of roughly 3 million premature deaths yearly by the year 2100, scientists writing in yesterday's issue of the journal Nature Climate Change say.
Specifically, the researchers argue that, according to their investigations into the matter at hand, having less greenhouse gases floating about in our planet's atmosphere is likely to prevent some 300,000 – 700,000 premature deaths annually by 2030. Of these, nearly 65% would be recorded in China.
In time, things would take a turn for the better. Thus, by 2050, roughly 800,000 – 1.8 million less premature deaths would be reported worldwide on a yearly basis and, by 2100, the number would up to 1.4 million – 3 million.
The scientists who looked into this issue explain that, as far as they can tell, curbing greenhouse gas emissions would ultimately benefit public health worldwide due to the fact that, more often than not, such measures go hand in hand with a drop in the amount of other pollutants that are released into our planet's atmosphere.
“Actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions often reduce co-emitted air pollutants, bringing co-benefits for air quality and human health,” the researchers explain in their paper.
“Many times, long-term global problems such as climate change are hard to act on, but here we show that reducing greenhouse gas emissions can have near-term, local benefits for health, as well, which might strengthen the arguments for action with governments and citizens,” specialist Jason West with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill further details, as cited by Live Science.
The specialists also estimate that the health benefits linked to reducing greenhouse gas emissions are worth some $50 (€37) to $380 (€281) per ton of CO2. This means that, both from a financial standpoint and as far as protecting public health goes, limiting atmospheric concentrations of these pollutants can only prove beneficial.
As they put it, “Air quality and health co-benefits, especially as they are mainly local and near-term, provide strong additional motivation for transitioning to a low-carbon future.”