Episode 38 - "Dead Air"

Despite efforts to develop cleaner technology, air pollution remains quite possible the world's greatest killer. New reports by the WHO put the annual deaths around 7 million, with 90% of the global population breathing dangerous air. Air pollution itself is an amalgam of particles with different sizes and chemical properties, and so the health impacts of polluted air are complex and encompass a diversity of chronic illnesses, cognitive dysfunction, infectious disease, and more. The implications of this health crisis are not fully understood, but the costs are widespread, and rising. Worse, addressing this problem seems to lead us into a classic catch-22. Can we afford to ignore this problem anymore? Can we afford not to?

Chapters

• 02:43 Magnitude of Air Pollution by Deaths


• 04:32 What is Air Pollution?


• 08:14 Hazy Places


• 10:30 Sources of Air Pollution


• 21:50 Does Progress Outweigh the Cost?


• 29:13 Health Impacts of Air Pollution


• 49:30 Catch-22


• 57:23 What Can We Do?

A full transcript is available as well as detailed links and sources (plus credits and more) on our website ashesashes.org.

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