Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 165 posts

Re: The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

#61

Post by m0nty »

pietrovismara wrote: post #25

This pandemic gave me so much to think about air pollution. It puzzles me how we can have, just in Europe, around 800k yearly premature deaths caused by pollution[0] and still not care at all. On the other hand, covid-19 hasn't caused yet as many deaths but we quickly intervened, as it should be. Why can't we, as a society, react with the same effectiveness to air pollution? - [0]: https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/…

> Why can't we, as a society, react with the same effectiveness to air pollution?

In the UK at least, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is a powerful lobby group. Car sales are used as a key economic indicator. Cars have long been seen as aspirational and a measure of personal success. Cars support other sectors of the economy such as civil engineering (roads, bridges), petroleum sales and car accessories, parts and repairs..

Cycling and walking on the other hand? Not so much, despite the many benefits. Just recently, there has been a move in some areas to introduce low-traffic neighbourhoods and create more cycle-ways. The hoo-ha has been deafening. It causes congestion, it blocks emergency vehicles, it increases air pollution because cars are at a standstill. (According to critics.) Newspapers have been running stories about how evil and undemocratic this is, and dear old Nigel Farage seems to have re-invented himself as an anti-cycling campaigner.

I don't think there's an actual conspiracy - there usually isn't. But the status quo serves the interests of some powerful and wealthy groups, and it takes a strong-willed government to overrule them. They'd rather hand-wave about meeting 'green' targets by 2060, and meantime hope that electric vehicles arrive in sufficient numbers to eliminate or ameliorate the problem. The alternatives cause so much political friction that they seem impossible to implement, at least without more courage than our politicians are used to showing.

Re: The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

#62

Post by GloriousKoji »

kmfrk wrote: post #45

A lot of people are coming to terms with bad air quality, even in their homes. Air purifiers are selling like hotcakes, even where wildfires aren't a concern. One of the concerns I hope will stick after this thing is (largely) over. Something I would love for a HNer to solve is SEO for air purifiers: basically all Google results are absolute bullshit that make it harder, not easier, to make an informed choice. Much l…

I find that this is a problem for nearly anything one might try to buy. I'm back to going to Consumer Reports for recommendations.

Re: The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

#63

Post by DoingIsLearning »

The article and the people commenting seem to generalize this death to air pollution. But the article itself specifically quotes NO2 as the cause of death.

High concentrations of NO2 can be directly attributed to diesel engines which is a much easier problem to tackle than the general problem of decommissioning ICE vehicles.

Re: The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

#64

Post by olivermarks »

A child with serious asthma issues should not be living near a major traffic artery, this could have been a quickly remedied social situation.

'A 2018 report found unlawful levels of pollution, which were detected at a monitoring station one mile from Ella's home, contributed to her fatal asthma attack'. The girl lived '25 metres from the South circular' in Lewisham.

Listing her death with claims 'air pollution' were a factor are almost certainly true (it would be interesting to see the autopsy data) but also serve the WHO's and other agendas.

Re: The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

#65

Post by cmehdy »

kmfrk wrote: post #45

A lot of people are coming to terms with bad air quality, even in their homes. Air purifiers are selling like hotcakes, even where wildfires aren't a concern. One of the concerns I hope will stick after this thing is (largely) over. Something I would love for a HNer to solve is SEO for air purifiers: basically all Google results are absolute bullshit that make it harder, not easier, to make an informed choice. Much l…

I find the irony strong in the idea of buying electronics encased in plastic transported by ships and trucks to you in order to purify the air that is polluted majorly due to every single aspect of that chain.

I understand to an extent of course, but can't help finding it painfully ironic.

Re: The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

#66

Post by lambdadmitry »

I don't like how the girl's death became a focus point for a crusade against cars in general (even though I'm a fan on public transport myself). By most measures, London's air is great as it is on average. However, some sources of pollution are local, like a big busy road, and the girl, unfortunately, lived near one (the article mentions she lived near South Circular Road). Trying to make the air clean on average is really counterproductive compared to, say, making buffer zones around roads with more greenery, tackling local pollution instead of averages.

Re: The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

#67

Post by ljf »

olivermarks wrote: post #64

A child with serious asthma issues should not be living near a major traffic artery, this could have been a quickly remedied social situation. 'A 2018 report found unlawful levels of pollution, which were detected at a monitoring station one mile from Ella's home, contributed to her fatal asthma attack'. The girl lived '25 metres from the South circular' in Lewisham. Listing her death with claims 'air pollution' were…

Unfortunately those with a low income often are incredibly limited in where they are able to live.

Even as a 'well paid' person in London my choices were limited by the vector of where I could afford, proximity to transport, my office, and family/friend/support connections.

Re: The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

#69

Post by olivermarks »

ljf wrote: post #67
olivermarks wrote: post #64

A child with serious asthma issues should not be living near a major traffic artery, this could have been a quickly remedied social situation. 'A 2018 report found unlawful levels of pollution, which were detected at a monitoring station one mile from Ella's home, contributed to her fatal asthma attack'. The girl lived '25 metres from the South circular' in Lewisham. Listing her death with claims 'air pollution' were…

Unfortunately those with a low income often are incredibly limited in where they are able to live. Even as a 'well paid' person in London my choices were limited by the vector of where I could afford, proximity to transport, my office, and family/friend/support connections.

Painfully aware of this, nevertheless this is a massive social services failure IMO.

Re: The first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death

#70

Post by auggierose »

another-dave wrote: post #54
scaladev wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not trying to undervalue your problems, but I suggest looking at some third world countries for some perspective. I live in one such place. In winter (which lasts for about 8-9 months each year) the air pollution is _horrifyingly_ bad: 250-300 µg/m³ of PM2.5 at day time, and 900-1500 µg/m³ each night. I am not bullshitting you, this is how we live. You can feel the taste of coal on tour tongue in a completely se…

The air pollution is at such a high level that people are dying from it. I do count myself lucky that I'm not contending with levels in places like Delhi but personally, I don't want people to put it in perspective and conclude that comparatively it's not so bad.

I don't think that is what he is saying. He is saying, no matter how bad things get, people will get used to it.
Post reply on HN