Air pollution was responsible for 1.1 million deaths across Africa in 2019, 家庭空气污染——主要是由室内炉灶造成的——占了700,000 fatalities, while increased outdoor air pollution claimed 400,000 lives, according to a report in a recent edition of the journal The Lancet Planetary Health from a team led by Boston College’s Global Observatory on Pollution and Health.
Furthermore, 空气污染给非洲国家造成了数十亿美元的国内生产总值损失，并可能与非洲儿童认知发展的损失有关, the researchers found.
第一次在全大陆范围内对非洲空气污染的深远影响进行审查, 国际电子游戏正规平台小组发现，虽然家庭空气污染造成的死亡人数略有下降, deaths caused by outdoor, or ambient, air pollution (AAP)—are on the rise, said Boston College Professor of Biology Philip Landrigan, M.D., who led the project with U.N. 环境规划署首席环境经济学家普什帕姆·库马尔.
Professor of Biology Philip Landrigan, M.D.
“最令人不安的发现是环境空气污染造成的死亡人数增加,” said Landrigan, director of BC's global observatory. “While this increase is still modest, 随着未来二三十年非洲城市的发展和非洲大陆经济的发展，这一数字有可能呈指数级增长.”
共同作者指出，非洲大陆正在经历一场巨大的变革. 非洲人口将在本世纪增加三倍以上，从现在的1.3 billion in 2020 to 4.3 billion by 2100. 城市在扩张，经济在增长，预期寿命几乎翻了一番. 化石燃料燃烧导致室外空气污染增加，2019年造成29人死亡.15 people per 100,000 population, an increase from 26.13 deaths per 100,000 in 1990, according to the report.
室内和室外污染源共同使空气污染成为非洲第二大死亡原因, claiming more lives than tobacco, alcohol, motor vehicle accidents, and drug abuse. Only AIDS causes more deaths. 非洲的影响是全球空气污染造成的损失的一部分，估计有6人死亡.7 million people worldwide in 2017, the paper notes.
“非洲的空气污染对健康有重大负面影响, human capital, and the economy,” the co-authors conclude. “随着国家的发展，这些影响越来越大.”
Examining the toll on the developing brains of children, 电子游戏正规平台人员计算出，婴幼儿暴露在空气污染中会导致寿命减少1%.96 billion IQ points across the continent.
该小组电子游戏正规平台了非洲空气污染的趋势，以确定对54个非洲国家人类健康和经济发展的影响. 该小组特别关注了撒哈拉以南三个快速发展的国家:埃塞俄比亚, Ghana, and Rwanda.
“我们关注这三个国家，因为它们都处于不同的经济发展阶段, 我们推断，比较它们之间的空气污染模式将为我们提供一个很好的未来趋势指标,” Landrigan said.
Within these three countries, 室外空气污染的上升趋势在加纳最为明显, the most economically advanced of the countries, and is beginning to be seen in Ethiopia and Rwanda, Landrigan said.
“来自其他国家的经验表明，今天非洲出现的AAP增加可能预示着一个迫在眉睫的问题,” according to the report. “在缺乏有远见的领导和有意干预的情况下, AAP可能成为比目前更大的疾病和过早死亡原因，并可能对经济发展构成重大威胁.”
电子游戏正规平台发现，除了对人类健康造成损害外，空气污染还会造成经济成本. Economic output lost to air-pollution-related disease was $3.0 billion in Ethiopia, or 1.16 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product; $1.6 billion in Ghana (0.95 percent of GDP), and $349 million in Rwanda (1.19 percent of GDP).
“除了气候和生物多样性之外，在污染控制方面的投资回报比通常想象的要大," said UNEP's Kumar. “这项来自非洲三个不同国家的电子游戏正规平台表明，管理污染对人力资本有积极影响，并有助于为大流行后时代的可持续复苏奠定基础.”
该电子游戏正规平台建议各国政府将预防和控制空气污染列为国家优先事项，并建立可持续的资金来支持这些优先事项. Specific recommendations include:
● Invest in clean renewable energy, 特别是利用太阳能和风能资源，减少对煤炭的依赖, oil, and gas.
●通过提高燃油税和停车费来减少道路交通和与交通有关的污染, levying congestion charges, creating vehicle-free zones and cycle paths, and improving public transportation.
●规范家庭和企业露天焚烧垃圾，限制农业焚烧, 包括烧林改耕以及焚烧农作物残茬.
● Undertake systemic reforms to identify, control, 跟踪室内和室外空气污染的来源，赞助电子游戏正规平台，进一步评估对公众健康的影响.
他说:“我们鼓励非洲领导人利用他们的国家仍处于经济发展相对早期的事实，迅速过渡到风能和太阳能, thus avoiding entrapment in fossil-fuel-based economies,” said Landrigan. “我们认为，非洲国家处于一个独特的位置，可以跳过其他地方所犯的错误，实现没有污染的繁荣.”
He added, “非洲的空气污染威胁着经济发展和未来的增长, 但明智的领导人可以迅速过渡到风能和太阳能，避免被煤炭困住, gas, and oil.”
In addition to Landrigan and Kumar, 该报告的共同作者包括电子游戏软件的电子游戏正规平台人员萨曼莎·费舍尔, 全球污染与健康观察站的高级数据分析师, and Gabriella Taghian; David C. Bellinger of Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School; Maureen L. Cropper of the University of Maryland; Agnes Binagwaho, M.D., vice chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity, Rwanda; Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, United Nations Environment Programme; and Yongjoon Park of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Ed Hayward | University Communications | October 2021