Coal Still Killing Millions in Developing World | Chart of the Week
Many large developing countries like China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam have made a strategic choice to continue burning coal. Whatever the short-term economic benefits, the result has been catastrophic for public health as millions continue to die every year from the resulting particulate pollution. China recorded 1.86 million air pollution deaths in 2021, and India 0.96 million.1
Deadly outdoor air pollution was once a global phenomenon. Western cities like London, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles were smothered with the choking haze of fossil fuel exhaust. The world has now bifurcated into separate camps: the rich world where air pollution is largely a problem of the past and the developing world where it continues to be a major source of death and disability.
IHME, Global Burden of Disease (2024) “Total number of Deaths from all causes attributed to ambient particulate matter pollution” [dataset]. IHME, Global Burden of Disease, “Global Burden of Disease - Risk Factors”.