Just from what I've seen in my lifetime in 1985 and 1986 in India and more recently what I've seen in South Korea of the air blowing over from Beijing it is not surprising that 600,000 children under 5 are dying from what is in the air various places around the world. What is surprising to me is that even more aren't dying than this from what I've seen so far here on earth.
Also, as a child in Los Angeles in the suburb of Glendale I remember how sulfurous the air was in the smog of the 1950s with leaded gas which caused brain damage to many inner city children near big thoroughfares from the lead in the gas fumes at that time. Also, the air then was so bad in summers that you often couldn't see 1 block the air was so brown and if you went in a public swimming pool or private swimming pool as a child in heavy smog it felt like a knife in your lungs stabbing you every time. If you started crying from the sulphur in the air from too much smog you couldn't stop crying until you went indoors somewhere where the smog hadn't got to then. And this was the 1950s.
Now, with no lead in gasoline (except for really old engines) (before 1970?) the air in Los Angeles looks clearer most of the time. However, scientists say now it is actually much worse for your health if you live there than before because of the strange combinations of chemicals in the air created by catalytic converters in the upper atmosphere. So, I am happy not living there full time since 1969. Mostly I have lived in San Diego, Hawaii, Mt. Shasta and the San Francisco Bay area which tends to have more winds coming off the ocean to blow whatever smog arises away into the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys. Now I live within 1 mile of the ocean where the sea breeze keeps the air clear year around except during fire season when smoke sometimes blows this way. So, mostly since 1969 I have had the clear air of the Pacific Ocean keeping the air I breathe cleaner than most places on earth. So, if you have the freedom to live where air is clean likely you might live longer and have a happier life and not die as young.
The thought that more children are now dying from air pollution than from traffic accidents is sort of beyond belief but also might be true.
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Nearly 600,000 Children Die From Breathing Toxic Air Every Year
WPTV West Palm Beach12 hours ago
Nearly 600,000 children under the age of 5 die every year from diseases caused by air pollution. And millions more live in places where ...
Breathing Toxic Air Every Year
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Nearly 600,000 children under the age of 5 die every year from diseases caused by air pollution.
And millions more live in places where they could easily meet the same fate.
According to a new report published by the United Nations Children's Fund, about 300 million kids around the world are breathing highly toxic air. The report cites numbers from 2012.
The majority of these children live in South Asia, where air pollution has reached levels at least six times higher than what the World Health Organization has deemed safe.
Because young kids' lungs and brains are still developing, toxic air can cause serious health problems.
SEE MORE: Air Pollution Is Letting Teeny, Tiny, Toxic Particles Into Your Brain
Tiny particles found in air pollution can enter the bloodstream and increase the risk for cardiac disease, stroke, heart failure, asthma and pneumonia, among other issues.
It even affects children who haven't been born yet. The report says pollutants can harm a developing baby's lungs and brain and even cause miscarriages and low birth weights.
UNICEF's report was released just days before the U.N. Climate Change Conference is set to begin in Morocco. The organization is urging world leaders to start taking steps to reduce air pollution in their countries.
According to CNN, UNICEF is asking lawmakers to reduce fossil fuel combustion, invest in energy efficiency, give more children access to the health care they need and keep schools away from factories and other sources of pollution.
About 7 million people around the world die from air pollution-related causes each year
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According to a new report published by the United Nations Children's Fund, about 300 million kids around the world are breathing highly toxic air. The report cites numbers from 2012.
The majority of these children live in South Asia, where air pollution has reached levels at least six times higher than what the World Health Organization has deemed safe.
Because young kids' lungs and brains are still developing, toxic air can cause serious health problems.
SEE MORE: Air Pollution Is Letting Teeny, Tiny, Toxic Particles Into Your Brain
Tiny particles found in air pollution can enter the bloodstream and increase the risk for cardiac disease, stroke, heart failure, asthma and pneumonia, among other issues.
It even affects children who haven't been born yet. The report says pollutants can harm a developing baby's lungs and brain and even cause miscarriages and low birth weights.
UNICEF's report was released just days before the U.N. Climate Change Conference is set to begin in Morocco. The organization is urging world leaders to start taking steps to reduce air pollution in their countries.
According to CNN, UNICEF is asking lawmakers to reduce fossil fuel combustion, invest in energy efficiency, give more children access to the health care they need and keep schools away from factories and other sources of pollution.
About 7 million people around the world die from air pollution-related causes each year
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