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The deaths breakdown by region is interesting: Africa: 1.8M South America: 149k North America: 179k Australia: 4k Europe: 434k Asia: 6.3M I guess to keep it positive, I'd say "Great job, Australia"!
Would be interesting to see how much of that is due to proactive regulation
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are we at the point where corporate adherence to laws is considered shocking?
To be honest: yes, at this point, and with an industry of this scale, it's a bit shocking to me. I don't know the main actors here, but I imagine the leverage of shipping companies on western countries is incredible ? ("oh, you think our boats are too polluting ? sure, let's see how you bring "about everything that's sold in about all your shops but that is manufactured half a world away" without our boats.")
When maritime shipping quintupled in price during the pandemic it wasn't because ship operators suddenly figured they could fleece people like that - it was the ports' logistics which were all out of whack.
The deaths breakdown by region is interesting: Africa: 1.8M South America: 149k North America: 179k Australia: 4k Europe: 434k Asia: 6.3M I guess to keep it positive, I'd say "Great job, Australia"!
Asia has about 4.8B population, Australia has 26M. On a per capita basis Australia has about 1x% more deaths
6.3e6/4.8e9 = 0.00131
4e3/26e6 = 0.00015
About 9x as bad?
Not sure about 1x%, was that 1% worse? I am sorry I might have misunderstood that.
The deaths breakdown by region is interesting: Africa: 1.8M South America: 149k North America: 179k Australia: 4k Europe: 434k Asia: 6.3M I guess to keep it positive, I'd say "Great job, Australia"!
> I guess to keep it positive, I'd say "Great job, Australia"! Would be interesting to see how much of that is due to proactive regulation
It's interesting to see the number of deaths caused by pollution. But everyone will die of something. Could it be that many of those people whose death was caused by pollution may have been frail and close to death anyway? I wonder if it would be more useful to talk about quality-life-years (QUALYs) lost as a result of pollution. Probably much harder to get that data though.
One cohort susceptible is asthmatics. Most asthmatics can live a long, healthy life - certainly not die at the age of 9 https://apnews.com/article/asthma-europe-london-air-pollutio... I, along with other asthmatics, did notice a marked improvement in symptoms during the Covid 19 lockdowns as there was less traffic on the roads - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8011425/ This is the problem with "Well, these p…
I'm not asthmatic, but last summer I had an eye-opening moment about pollution. I live in a very dense city, and I regularly go for short runs in a local park. Last summer I spent a few weeks at my parents' house, who live in the suburbs of the same city, only farther away, in a small town surrounded by fields and forests.
When I went running in the forest, I couldn't believe how easier it felt to breathe and how all-round easier my session felt, event though I ran faster and longer. I don't usually run so fast that I'm out of breath, but that particular time I felt a marked difference in how easy breathing felt. It was as if I needed to breathe in "less air" to get the oxygen I needed.
I had already felt a similar thing after the first covid lockdowns coming back to the city. I had sensation of something "rough" in my throat and had short bouts of coughing. This was a few days after the lockdowns lifted, and people were still weary of public transit so everyone on their dog were sitting in gridlocked cars on the roads.
I think it's the same thing with ambient noise. After some point, we just don't notice it any longer, but it does take its toll in stress and all-round irritability.
What still baffles me is the reduction in SO2 emissions due to regulations on shipping fuel. How did the shipping industry accept / manage / afford to switch fuels (presumably, to more expensive ones) in order to follow the regulation ; as opposed to delay / deny / deflect, or plain old lobbying the hell against the changes ? Are we in a "Montreal protocol" situation, where the alternative was existing and acceptable…
Are we at the point where corporate adherence to laws is considered shocking?