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Countries are finding that the urban economic development to which they aspire brings poisoned air, ill-health, massive costs, a low quality of life and, probably, an early death for a very great many people.
That is the stark conclusion from a reading of the new database of outdoor air quality from the World Health Organisation (WHO), for 3,000 of the world‘s cities. While millions of people in rich countries suffer the cancers, heart and respiratory diseases that air pollution brings, the levels of air pollution in many Asian and African cities are said to be five or even 10 times worse.
By not addressing air pollution now, governments, NGOs and individuals are storing up a health time bomb for the future, guaranteeing that hospital wards will be full of wheezing people with hearts and lungs permanently damaged just by living near busy roads or factories. The vast costs to the economy of caring for an increasingly infirm older population will have to be met later. Most governments and individuals still do not see air pollution as a major issue, but as one of the inevitable prices of economic development. They may easily understand that people die of malaria, obesity, alcohol or malnutrition, but may not appreciate the grave risks of air pollution.
Yet it‘s the biggest killer in the world and likely to put the biggest brake on development in the future.
Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/may/12/air-pollution-health-timebomb-poses-a-major-threatto-development-who >. Accessed on 07 Sept. 2016 (adapted).
Glossary
stark: dura, severa; time bomb: bomba-relógio; wards: enfermarias; to wheeze: arquejar, respirar com dificuldade.
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