Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes contributed to an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012, the UN health agency has said.
Air pollution, and we're talking about both indoors and outdoors, is now the biggest environmental health problem, and it is affecting everyone, both developed and developing countries, said Maria Neira, the World Health Organisation's public and environmental health chief.
Globally, pollution was linked to one death in eight in 2012, new WHO research found.
The biggest pollution-related killers were heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
The hardest-hit regions of the globe were what the WHO labels Southeast Asia, which includes India and Indonesia, and the Western Pacific, ranging from China and South Korea to Japan and the Philippines. Together, they accounted for 5.9 million deaths.
The global death toll included 4.3 million deaths due to indoor air pollution, chiefly caused by cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves. The toll from outdoor pollution was 3.7 million, with sources ranging from coal heating fires to diesel engines.
Many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor pollution, the WHO said, and due to that overlap the separate death toll attributed to the two sources cannot simply be added together, hence the figure of seven million deaths. The new figure is shocking and worrying, Ms Neira told reporters.
When it last released an estimate for deaths related to air pollution, in 2008, the agency had put the figure related to outdoor pollution at 1.3 million, while the number blamed on indoor pollution was 1.9 million. But a change in research methods makes parison difficult between the 2008 estimate and the 2012 figures, Neira said.
In the past, for example, the WHO did not take into account the overlap between exposure to both forms, and only assessed urban pollution. Satellite imagery has made it easier to assess rural pollution, and new knowledge about the health impact of exposure has enabled a better count. The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes, said Neira. Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution. The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe.
According to the WHO, some 2.9 billion people in poor nations live in homes that use fires as their principle method of cooking and heating. Carlos Dora, the WHO's public and environmental health coordinator, said that turned homes into bustion chambers. Simple measures to stem the impact include so-called clean cook stoves, which are a low-tech option, as well as improved ventilation, he said.
Countries also need to rethink policies, Mr Dora said, pointing to the impact in the developed world of a shift to cleaner power sources, more efficient management of energy demand, and technical strides in the auto industry. He also said transport policies needed a shake-up. With air pollution having sparked a recent scare in France, leading to restrictions on car use and the temporary scrapping of public transport fees in Paris, Mr Dora said such measures could be applied in the longer term. You can't buy clean air in a bottle, he said.The air is a shared resource. In order to breathe clean air, we have to have interventions in the areas that pollute air. The WHO said it planned by the end of this year to release a ranking of the world's 1,600 most polluted cities.
【小题1】The main idea of this article is that .A．In the past, the WHO did not take into account the overlap between exposure to both forms.B．Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes caused an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012. C．According to the WHO, some 2.9 billion people use fires as their principle method of cooking and heating. D．The WHO will release a ranking of the world's 1,600 most polluted cities by the end of this year.【小题2】The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to “ ”..A．The risksB．cooking fires C．environmental health problemD．Air pollution【小题3】Which of the following is True according to the passage? .A．The biggest pollution-related killers were heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease and lung cancer.B．Air pollution only affects developing countries.C．The risks from air pollution are now not serious.D．Maria Neira said that we can't buy clean air in a bottle.【小题4】What is main idea of the last paragraph?A．The air is a our shared resource.B．The WHO will release a ranking of the world's 1,600 most polluted cities.C．The government should make effective policies to control the air pollution. D．The transport policies need a shake-up.【小题5】The death toll in 2008 can hardly pare with that in 2012 because .A．the death toll included 4.3 million deaths due to indoor air pollution.B．in 2008 the WHO only assessed rural pollution.C．the research methods changed.D．the risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought.B
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(答案→)B
解析：本文主要讲了世界卫生组织表示，据估计由于油烟与汽车尾气引起的空气污染在2012年导致了全世界700万人死亡。
【小题1】主旨题：根据第一段Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes contributed to an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012, the UN health agency has said.可知本文主要讲了世界卫生组织表示，据估计由于油烟与汽车尾气引起的空气污染在2012年导致了全世界700万人死亡。这是文章的主旨。故选B。
【小题2】推理题：根据Air pollution, and we're talking about both indoors and outdoors, is now the biggest environmental health problem, and it is affecting everyone, both developed and developing countries可知这里想说空气污染影响着每一个人，包括发达国家和发展中国家，所以“it”指代的是空气污染。故选D。
【小题3】细节题：根据The biggest pollution-related killers were heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease and lung cancer.可知A的描述准确，故选A。
【小题4】考查主旨要义。根据文章最后一段中的Countries also need to rethink policies, Mr Dora said, pointing to the impact in the developed world of a shift to cleaner power sources, more efficient management of energy demand, and technical strides in the auto industry.可知，本段大意是：国家政府应该采取有效措施控制污染。故选C。
【小题5】考查细节理解。根据文章倒数第五段中的But a change in research methods makes parison difficult between the 2008 estimate and the 2012 figures可知，两个数据很难比较的原因是研究的方法改变了。故选C。