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This article is missing the forest for tiny NOx colored trees. Sure, there is an indirect health problem with pollution, but there is also a much more direct h

This article is missing the forest for tiny NOx colored trees. Sure, there is an indirect health problem with pollution, but there is also a much more direct health problem: cars causing fatal accidents. The best way is hence to fix the problem at the root: personal cars do not belong in cities, and cars do not belong in pedestrian areas.

akamaka 11y ago
Vehicle emissions cause 53,000 premature deaths in the USA every year: http://news.mit.edu/2013/study-air-pollution-causes-200000-early-deaths-each-year-in-the-us-0829 http://news.mit.edu/2013/study-air-pollution-causes-200000-e... I'd be happier to fix both problems at once, but fixing just one would go a long way.
- revelation 11y ago
  I've expanded on this in the other child comment, but of course banning diesel cars doesn't solve the pollution issues. There is no healthy threshold for particulate concentration and other pollution, even if safety standards want to create this illusion. It's a continuous world, after all.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
DanBC 11y ago
Air pollution probably kills more people in the UK than road traffic accidents. Deaths in all road user groups is about 2,000 per year in the UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-road-fatalities https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-road-fatal... Estimates for deaths caused by air pollution are usually stated as being about 30,000 per year, but that number could be much higher. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/02/air-pollution-may-cause-more-uk-deaths-than-previously-thought-say-scientists http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/02/air-pollu...
- revelation 11y ago
  This is where it gets difficult, as you can't directly compare these numbers. Yes, air pollution presumably causes a bunch of premature deaths, but clearly air pollution can not directly kill you. In the meantime, road traffic accidents is one, if not the biggest factor in the death of otherwise totally healthy people like teenagers, who we would easily expect to live another 40 years. In any case, the magnitude of the problem doesn't exactly matter, as banning diesel cars doesn't solve the pollution deaths. Normal gasoline cars have the same pollution problems, if only on a somewhat lesser scale, particularly when used for short distances as customary in the city. As such, yes, we still have to get rid of cars in cities to fix this.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    > but clearly air pollution can not directly kill you. People die from pollution induced asthma attack. That's pretty direct.
  - ars 11y ago
    > Normal gasoline cars have the same pollution problems, if only on a somewhat lesser scale That's not in the slightest true. A well running gasoline car produces so few pollutants that some actually produce exhaust that is cleaner than the air that entered it. No diesel can claim that.

akamaka 11y ago

Vehicle emissions cause 53,000 premature deaths in the USA every year: http://news.mit.edu/2013/study-air-pollution-causes-200000-early-deaths-each-year-in-the-us-0829 http://news.mit.edu/2013/study-air-pollution-causes-200000-e... I'd be happier to fix both problems at once, but fixing just one would go a long way.

revelation 11y ago
I've expanded on this in the other child comment, but of course banning diesel cars doesn't solve the pollution issues. There is no healthy threshold for particulate concentration and other pollution, even if safety standards want to create this illusion. It's a continuous world, after all.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

DanBC 11y ago

Air pollution probably kills more people in the UK than road traffic accidents. Deaths in all road user groups is about 2,000 per year in the UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-road-fatalities https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-road-fatal... Estimates for deaths caused by air pollution are usually stated as being about 30,000 per year, but that number could be much higher. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/02/air-pollution-may-cause-more-uk-deaths-than-previously-thought-say-scientists http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/02/air-pollu...

revelation 11y ago
This is where it gets difficult, as you can't directly compare these numbers. Yes, air pollution presumably causes a bunch of premature deaths, but clearly air pollution can not directly kill you. In the meantime, road traffic accidents is one, if not the biggest factor in the death of otherwise totally healthy people like teenagers, who we would easily expect to live another 40 years. In any case, the magnitude of the problem doesn't exactly matter, as banning diesel cars doesn't solve the pollution deaths. Normal gasoline cars have the same pollution problems, if only on a somewhat lesser scale, particularly when used for short distances as customary in the city. As such, yes, we still have to get rid of cars in cities to fix this.
- DanBC 11y ago
  > but clearly air pollution can not directly kill you. People die from pollution induced asthma attack. That's pretty direct.
- ars 11y ago
  > Normal gasoline cars have the same pollution problems, if only on a somewhat lesser scale That's not in the slightest true. A well running gasoline car produces so few pollutants that some actually produce exhaust that is cleaner than the air that entered it. No diesel can claim that.