Effects of Pollution
8.7 million
Globally, an estimated 8,700,000 premature deaths each year are caused by the fossil fuel component of fine particulate matter
(PM2.5) Particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5µm.
due to the burning of fossil-fuels [1].
  • The worst affected areas are India (2.5 million deaths), China (2.4 million deaths) and parts of the eastern US, Europe and Southeast Asia. Due to a 43.7% reduction in fossil fuel PM2.5 between 2012 and 2018 in China, premature deaths dropped from the previously estimated 3.9 million.
  • Children breathe more air relative to their body weight and are exposed to more pollutants. In 2012, 169,000 deaths of children under the age of 5 were due to PM2.5 including dust and wildfire smoke (not fossil fuels alone).
  • The figures quoted above relate to 2018, when there were 57.4 million deaths worldwide [2] so 1 in 6.6 deaths worldwide were premature. And premature because of fossil fuel pollution. (Other estimates, from University Colleg London, suggest a higher impact [3].)

References:

[1] 'Global mortality from outdoor fine particle pollution generated by fossil fuel combustion' (Accessed on 18th November, 2023) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00139 . . .
[2] 'Deaths per year' (Accessed on 18th November, 2023) https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-deaths-per-year
[3] 'Fossil fuel air pollution responsible for 1 in 5 deaths worldwide' (Accessed on 18th November, 2023) https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/feb/fossil-fuel-air-pollutio . . .