Long-term exposure to fine particulate pollution is shortening the average Thai’s life expectancy by more than two years.
As residents in Bangkok, Thailand, report coughing up blood and suffering from nosebleeds due to extreme levels of air pollution, a new analysis of the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) shows long-term exposure to fine particulate pollution is shortening the average Thai’s life expectancy by more than two years.
Some areas of Thailand fare much worse. In the most polluted regions, air pollution is shortening lives by more than four years relative to what it would have been if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline was met.
“As countries navigate the dual challenges of sustaining economic growth and protecting the environment and public health, the AQLI shows not only the damage caused by pollution but also the enormous gains that can be made with policies to address it,” says Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago, who created the Index along with his colleagues at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.
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