“Rather than spiraling into panic, we should take a moment to appreciate the remarkable progress we’ve made in improving the environment, and acknowledge that a key factor is prosperity.” -
Stephen HeinsWhen Earth Day was first marked
55 years ago, the world faced some grim environmental challenges.
- Rivers were catching fire and cities were choked with smog.
- Air and water pollution were rampant, especially in the industrialized West. Today, outdoor air pollution has declined dramatically in rich countries.
Over the past three decades, death risk from air pollution has spectacularly declined by over 70%, while waterways have become cleaner and nations reforested.
For the 7 billion people who don’t live in the rich world, outdoor air pollution became worse between 1990 and about 2015.
But as especially sulfur emissions have peaked and started declining, deaths from outdoor air pollution in poor countries have
actually slightly declined...
- This overlooked problem stems from energy poverty, where people are forced to rely on traditional biomass — wood, cardboard and dung — to cook and keep warm...
