In the News
April 3, 2019
Levels of small particulate air pollution across China were down 12 percent in 2016 compared to 2013 levels. “It took about a dozen years and a recession for the United States to achieve the same percentage reduction in particulate pollution that China has achieved in such a short time,” said Michael Greenstone, Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and Director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).
Greenstone has helped produce the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), a new pollution index which measures air pollution and its effect on life expectancy. “The AQLI tells citizens and policymakers how particulate pollution is affecting them and reveals the benefits of policies to reduce particulate pollution.”
Particulate matter (PM) pollution is believed to be the most harmful form of air pollution. When the air is thick with PM pollution, tiny particles enter the respiratory system, increasing the risk of cancer, heart attack and stroke. The most dangerous are the tiny PM2.5 particles, which have a diameter of less than 3 percent of a human hair. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 75 percent of the global population, or 5.5 billion people, live in areas wherePM2.5 pollution exceeds safe levels. Loss of life is highest in Asia.