Fossil Fuel Burning: Air Pollution's Primary Culprit?

Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline, diesel and natural gas releases large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the air. These gases can remain in the atmosphere for decades to hundreds of years, causing global warming and climate change. They also emit harmful air pollutants, including tiny poisonous particles known as PM2.5, which can aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma and can lead to lung cancer, coronary heart disease, strokes and early death. More than 8 million people around the world die each year as a result of breathing polluted air that contains particles from fossil fuels.

Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases

The burning of fossil fuels also emits harmful air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and airborne particles such as soot and PM2.5. These tiny particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, aggravating respiratory conditions like asthma and leading to lung cancer, coronary heart disease, strokes, and early death. More than 8 million people worldwide die each year from breathing polluted air containing particles from fossil fuels.

In addition to the direct emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants, the extraction and processing of fossil fuels also contribute to air pollution. For example, active oil and gas wells, transport and processing facilities, and mining operations release toxic airborne particulate matter, benzene, and formaldehyde, which have serious health impacts.

The combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, gasoline, diesel, and natural gas, disproportionately affects children, especially those from poor backgrounds, due to the resulting environmental pollution and climate change. The health and economic costs of fossil fuel combustion by-products on children have been fragmented and considered separately from air pollution and climate change, hindering the development of comprehensive policies to protect this vulnerable group.

Fossil fuels emit harmful air pollutants before they are burned

Fossil fuels emit harmful air pollutants long before they are burned. According to a 2017 study, 17.6 million Americans are exposed daily to toxic air pollution from active oil and gas wells, transport and processing facilities. These include benzene, which is linked to childhood leukaemia and blood disorders, and formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical. Mining operations are also harmful, especially for miners, as they generate toxic airborne particulate matter. Strip mining, particularly in places such as Canada's boreal forest, can release giant carbon stores held naturally in the wild.

When fossil fuels are burned, they release large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the air. These gases trap heat in our atmosphere, causing global warming. They also produce tiny poisonous particles known as PM2.5, which are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and can aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma. They can also lead to lung cancer, coronary heart disease, strokes and early death. More than 8 million people around the world die each year as a result of breathing in polluted air that contains particles from fossil fuels.

The combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline, diesel and natural gas has a disproportionate impact on children, especially those in poverty. They bear a heavy burden of disease and developmental impairment from both environmental pollution and climate change. However, assessments of the health and economic costs of the impacts of fossil-fuel combustion by-products on children have been fragmented and published in specialised journals, making it difficult to fully understand the harm caused by a carbon-based economy.

Fossil fuels emit an array of pollutants that reduce air quality and harm life, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and airborne particles such as soot. These pollutants can remain in the atmosphere for decades to hundreds of years, contributing to long-term climate change and global warming.

Fossil fuel air pollution causes almost 1 in 5 deaths globally each year

Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline, diesel and natural gas releases greenhouse gases that trap solar radiation in the atmosphere and cause climate change. They also emit harmful air pollutants, including benzene, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and airborne particles such as soot and PM2.5. These particles are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, aggravating respiratory conditions like asthma and leading to lung cancer, coronary heart disease, strokes and early death. More than 8 million people around the world die each year as a result of breathing polluted air that contains particles from fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels are formed from the decomposition of buried carbon-based organisms that died millions of years ago. They create carbon-rich deposits that are extracted and burned for energy. When burned, they release large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the air. These gases can remain in the atmosphere for decades to hundreds of years, causing global warming. Already, the average global temperature has increased by 1°C.

Warming above 1.5°C risks further sea level rise, extreme weather, biodiversity loss and species extinction, as well as food scarcity, worsening health and poverty for millions of people worldwide. Children, especially those in poverty, bear a disproportionate burden of disease and developmental impairment from both environmental pollution and climate change due to the combustion of fossil fuels. A 2017 study found that 17.6 million Americans are exposed daily to toxic air pollution from active oil and gas wells and from transport and processing facilities.

The health and economic costs of the impacts of fossil-fuel combustion by-products on children have typically been considered separately from air pollution and climate change, precluding a full reckoning of the harm to children that results from a carbon-based economy. This has stymied the advancement of comprehensive policies to protect this vulnerable group.

Fossil fuel combustion is the leading environmental threat to global paediatric health

The combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, gasoline, diesel and natural gas, releases an array of pollutants that reduce air quality and harm life, especially sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and airborne particles such as soot. These pollutants have been linked to a range of health issues in children, including developmental impairment, childhood leukaemia and blood disorders.

According to a 2017 study, 17.6 million Americans are exposed daily to toxic air pollution from active oil and gas wells, transport and processing facilities. This includes benzene and formaldehyde, both of which are cancer-causing chemicals. The impact of fossil fuel combustion on paediatric health is particularly harmful to children from poorer backgrounds, who bear a disproportionate burden of disease and developmental impairment.

The effects of fossil fuel combustion on global paediatric health have typically been assessed in fragmented studies published in specialised journals, which has hindered the development of comprehensive policies to protect this vulnerable group. A holistic approach to understanding the harm caused by fossil fuel burning is needed to fully address the environmental threat it poses to children's health worldwide.

Greenhouse gases can remain in the atmosphere for decades to hundreds of years

Burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gasoline, diesel and natural gas releases large amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the air. These gases trap heat in our atmosphere, causing global warming and climate change. They can remain in the atmosphere for decades to hundreds of years, continuing to cause harm.

The combustion of fossil fuels also releases tiny poisonous particles known as PM2.5. These particles are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and can aggravate respiratory conditions like asthma. They have also been linked to lung cancer, coronary heart disease, strokes and early death. More than 8 million people around the world die each year as a result of breathing in polluted air that contains particles from fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels emit harmful air pollutants long before they are burned, too. Some 17.6 million Americans are exposed daily to toxic air pollution from active oil and gas wells, transport and processing facilities. These include benzene, which is linked to childhood leukaemia and blood disorders, and formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical. Mining operations are also harmful, especially for the miners themselves, generating toxic airborne particulate matter.

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