Air Pollution

Any Decrease in Air Pollution Leads to Longer Lives, Study Finds

By: David Gutierrez

Date of Publication: 12/8/12

URL: http://www.naturalnews.com/038259_air_pollution_longevity_study.html

 

Summary:

According to a study done by researchers at Harvard University, it was concluded that with even the smallest decrease in air pollution that it could increase our life expectancies. Although we are currently seeing a decrease in air pollution levels compared to 30 years ago, it was found that with even further reductions that health benefits could come along from them. This is due to the fact that improved air quality has resulted in lower health problems and longer life expectancies. The only problem with these health benefits that are supposed to occur from a decrease in air pollution is that researchers feel that since the studies conducted to find these results were done between 1980 and 2000, that they might not apply to us currently because we are currently expereincing much smaller levels of decreases in pollution then we were at these times. Even though they are still unsure if benefits will still occur today, they still feel that the change in decreases now won't make much of a difference. If health benefits do occur from decreases in air pollution though, it was also found that it would be more impactful on more urban areas compared to rural areas. Although they are still unsure why this is, they believe it is due to the stronger levels of pollution found in urban areas. These studies show that if decreases in air pollution continue to occur, then significant benefits for human health and life span will begin to show.

Opinion/Reflection:

In my opinion, I feel that we should put more efforts into reducing our amounts of air pollution to try and introduce more human health benefits and longer life spans. With pollution becoming a much greater problem impacting our health today, it is important that we try to reduce our pollution to lead to better health. I can easily relate to this topic as many of my ancestors were coal miners. Working in the coal mines everyday, they were exposed to high levels of air pollution. This greatly affected their health and led to their early deaths as their lungs grew bad due to the over exposure of air pollution from the mining of coal. Knowing this, I greatly support the idea of decreasing our air pollution to bring upon more health benefits and longer life spans.

Questions:

Now knowing that decreases in air pollution can lead to health benefits and longer life spans, would you make an effort to help decrease our amount of pollution?

Can you make any connections to air pollution affecting your life in any way?

Have you seen any recent news having to do with air pollution? If so, what about?